Table Of ContentHabits
This book evaluates how the pragmatist notion of habit can influence
current debates at the crossroads between philosophy, cognitive sciences,
neurosciences, and social theory. It deals with the different aspects of the
pragmatic turn involved in 4E cognitive science and traces back the roots
of such a pragmatic turn to both classical and contemporary pragmatism.
Written by renowned philosophers, cognitive scientists, neuroscientists, and
social theorists, this volume fills the need for an interdisciplinary account of
the role of “habit.” Researchers interested in the philosophy of mind, cognitive
science, neuroscience, psychology, social theory, and social ontology will
need this book to fully understand the pragmatist turn in current research on
mind, action, and society.
FAUSTO CARUANA is Research Scientist at the Institute of Neuroscience of
the Italian National Research Council (CNR) in Parma, Italy. He is specialized
in social, cognitive, and affective neuroscience with a focus on the neural and
psychological mechanisms underlying emotions, empathy, mirror neurons,
and motor cognition.
ITALO TESTA is Associate Professor in Theoretical Philosophy at the
University of Parma, Italy, where he researches critical theory, pragmatism,
embodied cognition, social ontology, and German classical philosophy with
a focus on the notions of second nature and the theory of recognition.
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Habits
Pragmatist Approaches from Cognitive Science,
Neuroscience, and Social Theory
Edited by
Fausto Caruana
Institute of Neuroscience, CNR
Italo Testa
University of Parma
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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108498449
DOI: 10.1017/9781108682312
© Cambridge University Press 2021
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First published 2021
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
names: Caruana, Fausto, 1979- editor. | Testa, Italo, editor.
title: Habits : pragmatist approaches from cognitive science, neuroscience,
and social theory / edited by Fausto Caruana, Institute of Neuroscience, CNR,
Italo Testa, University of Parma.
description: First Edition. | New York : Cambridge University Press, 2021.
| Includes bibliographical references and index.
identifiers: LCCN 2020027598 (print) | LCCN 2020027599 (ebook) | ISBN
9781108498449 (hardback) | ISBN 9781108736367 (paperback) | ISBN
9781108682312 (ebook)
subjects: LCSH: Habit. | Cognitive psychology. | Neurosciences.
classification: LCC BF335 .H33 2020 (print) | LCC BF335 (ebook) | DDC
150.19/8--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020027598
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020027599
ISBN 978-1-108-49844-9 Hardback
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Published online by Cambridge University Press
Contents
Contributors page viii
The Pragmatist Reappraisal of Habit in
Contemporary Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, and
Social Theory: Introductory Essay 1
italo testa and fausto caruana
Part I: The Sensorimotor Embodiment of Habits
The Neuroscience of Habits
1 Habit Formation, Inference, and Anticipation: Continuous
Themes in a Pragmatist Neuroscientific Perspective 41
jay schulkin
2 Habits and Self: A Temporal View 58
georg northoff
Habits and Emotions
3 Emotional Mirroring Promotes Social Bonding and Social Habits:
An Insight from Laughter 79
fausto caruana
4 Emotions, Habits, and Skills: Action-Oriented Bodily
Responses and Social Affordances 100
rebekka hufendiek
Habits and Skills
5 What the Situation Affords: Habit and Heedful Interrelations in
Skilled Performance 120
katsunori miyahara, tailer g. ransom, and
shaun gallagher
v
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vi Contents
6 Swim or Sink: Habit and Skillful Control in Sport Performance 137
massimiliano l. cappuccio and jesús ilundáin-agurruza
Part II: The Enactment of Habits in Mind and World
Habits and the Background of Action
7 The Backside of Habit: Notes on Embodied Agency and the
Functional Opacity of the Medium 165
maria brincker
8 Habit, Ontology, and Embodied Cognition Without Borders:
James, Merleau-Ponty, and Nishida 184
jonathan mckinney, maki sato, and anthony chemero
Habits, Intentionality, and Language
9 Clarifying the Character of Habits: Understanding What and
How They Explain 204
daniel d. hutto and ian robertson
10 Habits, Meaning, and Intentionality: A Deweyan Reading 223
pierre steiner
11 Language, Habit, and the Future 245
elena clare cuffari
Habits and Moral Life
12 Moral Habit 264
mark johnson
13 Habits of Goodness: How We Come to Be Virtuous
Without Moral Laws 277
teed rockwell
Part III: Socially Embeddded and Culturally Extended Habits
Habits, Human Development, and Social Practices
14 Growing Minds: Pragmatic Habits and Enculturation 297
richard menary
15 “Habit is Thus the Enormous Flywheel of Society”:
Pragmatism, Social Theory, and Cognitive Science 320
stephen turner
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Contents vii
16 Habit and the Human Lifespan: Toward a Deweyan
Account of Aging and Old Age 337
shannon sullivan
Habits, Cultural Artifacts, and Aesthetics
17 Habits and the Enculturated Mind: Pervasive Artifacts,
Predictive Processing, and Expansive Habits 352
joerg fingerhut
18 Brain, Body, Habit, and the Performative Quality of Aesthetics 376
vittorio gallese
Habits, Social Ontology, and Institutions
19 A Habit Ontology for Cognitive and Social Sciences:
Methodological Individualism, Pragmatist Interactionism,
and 4E Cognition 395
italo testa
20 Social Ontology between Habits and Social Interactions 417
roberto frega
21 Social Reproduction Feminism and Deweyan Habit Ontology 438
federica gregoratto and arvi särkelä
Index 459
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Contributors
maria brincker Department rebekka hufendiek Department of
of Philosophy, University of Philosophy, University of Basel
Massachusetts Boston
daniel d. hutto School of Liberal
fausto caruana Italian National Arts, University of Wollongong
Research Council (CNR), Institute
jesus ilundain-agurruza
of Neuroscience, Parma
Department of Philosophy,
anthony chemero Department Linfield University
of Philosophy, University of
Cincinnati mark johnson Department of
Philosophy, University of Oregon
elena clare cuffari Department
of Philosophy, Worcester State massimiliano l. cappuccio School
University of Engineering and Information
Technology, University of New
joerg fingerhut Humboldt
South Wales
University – Berlin School of
Mind and Brain jonathan mckinney Department
of Philosophy, University of
roberto frega Centre Nationale de
Cincinnati
la Recherche Scientifique - École
des hautes études en sciences richard menary Department of
sociales Philosophy, Macquarie University
shaun gallagher Department of katsunori miyahara Faculty of
Philosophy, University of Memphis Humanities and Human Sciences,
Hokkaido University
vittorio gallese Department
of Medicine and Surgery, georg northoff Brain and Mind
Neuroscience Unit, University Research Institute, University of
of Parma Ottawa
federica gregoratto Department tailer g. ransom Department
of Philosophy, University of St. of Philosophy, University of
Gallen Memphis
viii
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Contributors ix
ian robertson Department pierre steiner Deparment
of Philosophy, University of TSH-COSTECH, Compiégne
Wollongong Technology University
teed rockwell Department shannon sullivan Department of
of Philosophy, Sonoma State Philosophy, UNC Charlotte
University
italo testa Department of
arvi särkelä Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and
Philosophy, University of Lucerne Cultural Industries, Philosophy
Unit, University of Parma
maki sato Graduate School of Arts
and Sciences, University of Tokyo stephen turner Department of
Philosophy, University of South
jay schulkin Department of
Florida
Neuroscience, Georgetown
University
Published online by Cambridge University Press
The Pragmatist Reappraisal of Habit in
Contemporary Cognitive Science, Neuroscience,
and Social Theory: Introductory Essay
Italo Testa and Fausto Caruana
The aim of this book is to evaluate the contribution that the notion of habit
could make to current debate at the crossroads between philosophy, cognitive
sciences, neurosciences, and social theory. This topic is addressed in a broad
sense, dealing with the different aspects of the pragmatic turn involved by 4E
(embodied, embedded, extended, and enactive) cognitive science, and tracing
back the roots of such a pragmatic turn to both classical and contemporary
pragmatism. Its aim is to explore the many facets of the notion of habit
and to use it as the guiding thread for the theoretical reconstruction and
critical reassessment of pragmatist arguments that are of great relevance to
contemporary thought. In addressing such questions, the book gathers original
contributions from philosophers, cognitive scientists, neuroscientists, and social
theorists, aiming to offer an interdisciplinary account of “habit,” a notion whose
importance is today receiving growing attention in different fields of research
but whose different theoretical and historical aspects still need to be connected
systematically. Notably, the common reference to the pragmatist approach to
this concept is also crucial to ensure a consistent and coherent outcome, as it
links together the single chapters in which the systematic project of the book
is articulated.
The notion of habit, and an understanding of experience as a process of
habit formation, constitute a major aspect of classical pragmatist approaches
to cognition, social action, and aesthetics (Kilpinen 2012), and have played
an important role in classical social sciences (Camic 1986). Still, since the
middle of the last century, intentionalist and representational models have
hegemonized cognitive sciences, action theory, and social ontology. More
recently, the importance of the notion of habit as a viable alternative to current
paradigms in some of these fields is being rediscovered. For instance, Pollard
(2006) has argued against neglecting habit in action theory, Turner (2002)
has emphasized the role of habit in the foundation of social theory, whereas
Barandiaran and Di Paolo (2014) have pleaded for the reappraisal of habit as
1
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108682312.001 Published online by Cambridge University Press
2 Italo Testa and Fausto Caruana
a theoretical alternative to the notion of “mental representation” adopted by
computational and informational cognitive science. More generally, pragmatism
nowadays increasingly plays an important role as the main alternative to
classical cognitive science (Fodor 2008). The rediscovery in recent years of
the contemporary relevance of classical pragmatist theories such as Dewey’s,
Peirce’s, James’s, and Mead’s (Rockwell 2005; Menary 2010, 2012; Johnson
2010; Paolucci 2011; Hutto and Myin 2013; Solymosi and Shook 2013; Madzia
and Jung 2016; Dreon 2019) deals with the different aspects of the pragmatist
turn involved in 4E cognition.
In the book we explore how the continuity from motor routines to intelligent
behavior described by pragmatist accounts of habit enables 4E cognitive science
to overcome the dualism between low-level aspects of cognition, on the one
hand, and creative and intelligent thinking, on the other hand, and to finally
offer a unifying view of cognition. We investigate the role that pragmatist
insights could play in overcoming mind/body, mind/world and perception/
action dualisms, inherited from the Cartesian and Kantian tradition, which
have dominated internalist research programs of the last few decades and which
have started to be tackled only recently. In particular, we explore how a habit-
based notion of experience inspired by pragmatism could make it possible to
appreciate the continuity between sensory, motor, and social aspects of action.
This could offer useful theoretical tools for studying embodied, enactive,
embedded, and extended approaches to cognition that have recently reevaluated
the notion of habit (see Noë 2009). What is more, it could also be helpful
in order to reframe neuroscientific research in interactive social contexts, to
implement experimental approaches to aesthetic perception, and to offer an
alternative to socio-ontological models which are based on the internalist and
representational notion of collective intentionality and neglect the role of habit
formation in the constitution of social entities.
In the first section of this introductory essay we first sketch the role that the
notion of habit has played in the work of pragmatist authors such as James,
Peirce, and Dewey, and give an account of its ambivalent role in the development
of psychology and of cognitive sciences from James’s introspectionism, through
behaviorism and computationalism, up to 4E cognition and its rediscovery of
a pragmatist action-oriented stance to cognition. We then investigate in the
second section how the abandonment of the notion of habit in cognitive sciences
in the second half of the twentieth century was paralleled by the adoption of a
dualism between automatic routine and intelligent action and by an approach
to cognition based on the notion of mental representation. This notion was
subsequently put under pressure by the emerging paradigm of 4E cognition,
whose push toward an antirepresentationalist turn is leading to a reassessment of
the notion of habit. In the third section we explore how habit formation has been
investigated within contemporary neuroscience in a dynamic perspective based
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108682312.001 Published online by Cambridge University Press
