Clark And Chalmers Argumentative Analysis

In the paper, ‘The Extended Mind’, authors Andy Clark and David J. Chalmers put forth the notion of “extended cognition”, which is the idea that the process of acquiring knowledge can extend outside of one’s own physical body. At the center of Clark and Chalmers argument is an analogy between two different individuals, Inga and Otto. Inga’s cognitive process takes place inside of her brain. Otto’s cognitive process includes phenomena external to his physical body. Specifically, it includes a notebook. Clark and Chalmers argue that, though the mental cognition of Inga and Otto differ in various ways, the function between the two is the same. Given that function defines mental cognition, and since the function between the cognitive processes of Inga and Otto are the same, Clark and Chalmers believe Inga and Otto’s cognitive processes are analogous, though Inga’s cognitive process takes place in her brain and external phenomena affects Otto’s cognitive process. Yet, after a thorough examination of Clark and Chalmers argument, it becomes clear that this is a weak analogy.
Clark and Chalmers begin justifying their argument …show more content…
This means that the two separate, distinct entities, Otto and the notebook, synthesize into one greater entity that can be understood as ‘a cognitive system in its own right’ (Extend Mind). In this new synthesized cognitive system, each element (Otto and the notebook) serve as its own distinct role in the act of acquiring knowledge. Clark and Chalmers proceed to show that ‘the competency of Otto’s cognitive process would drop if the notebook were removed’ (Extended Mind). This is similar to how losing part of one’s brain would diminish that individual’s mental capacity. According to Clark and Chalmers, this suggests that the mind extends into the