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Since Mark Bickhard’s original proposal of interactivism as a model of mental representation, the theory has developed into a broad framework for understanding whole persons and their complex socio-cultural ontology. Contemporary cognitive science is undergoing what has been termed “a pragmatic turn”: Opposing the traditional computational views, the current trend focuses on the dynamic, embodied, and embedded nature of psychological phenomena. Many of the theories that have grown to prominence in this action-oriented climate (e.g. enactivism, ecological psychology, predictive processing, emulation theory etc.) share significant common-ground with interactivism, while, nevertheless differing from it in various important respects. The special issue aims to offer a platform for a theoretical discussion between interactivism and such congenial models, as well as present research conducted within and in relation to the interactivist framework.

 

Potential topics should refer to the interactivist model and include but are not limited to:

• Applications of the interactivist model to some specific area of inquiry (e.g. imitation, theory of mind, morality)

• Foundational critique of the interactivist model

• Comparisons of interactivism with other frameworks

• Formalizations of the interactivist model

• Process metaphysics

• Mental representation

• Naturalization of normativity

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Manuscripts should be submitted through Editorial Manager®, starting August 1, 2023. When submitting the paper, please choose the option “SI: Interactivism in Perspective” as the article type. 

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Papers should be written in English, and include a short abstract with four to six keywords. Submissions must be suitable for double-blind review. For details on the review process, see Peer Review Policy, Process and Guidance and Peer Reviewer Selection. Although there is no word limit for submissions, your submission is much more likely to be considered if does not in exceed 9000 words. For details, see the journal’s Instructions for Authors. 

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In his own contribution, Mark Bickhard will respond to or comment on each accepted paper.

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Confirmed contributors: Jedediah WP Allen, Terrence Deacon, Eleni Gregoromichelaki, Ruth Kempson, Alex Levine, Marcin Miłkowski, Kenneth R. Westphal 

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Submission deadline: March 15, 2024. 

 

For further information, please contact one of the guest editors:

ishani479@hotmail.com (Itay Shani)

robmirski@gmail.com (Robert Mirski)

p.adrian.frazier@gmail.com (Adrian Frazier)

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