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1Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Frontiers in Psychology
|October 2, 2018
Summary
Human minds are shaped by observing others act. Action perception, particularly the third-person view, offers direct insights into consciousness, selfhood, and intentionality, illuminating mind connections.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Philosophy of Mind
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Consciousness, selfhood, intentionality, and agency are complex philosophical and scientific problems.
- Traditional approaches often focus on the first-person subjective experience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a novel, "light" approach to understanding consciousness.
- To investigate the role of action perception in accessing core aspects of the mind.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the cognitive and perceptual mechanisms involved in action perception.
- Theoretical argument focusing on the third-person perspective in observing actions.
Main Results:
- Human minds are significantly adapted for action perception.
- The third-person perspective in action perception provides more direct access to selfhood, intentionality, and agency than the first-person perspective.
- Observing actions offers inherent access to these concepts.
Conclusions:
- Action perception, especially the third-person view, offers a valuable lens for studying consciousness.
- This approach illuminates the relationship between one's own mind and the minds of others.
- While not solving all consciousness enigmas, it provides new perspectives.