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The Dialectics of Free Energy Minimization
Evert A Boonstra1, Heleen A Slagter1
1Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam (iBBA), Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
|September 26, 2019
Summary
Karl Friston's free energy minimization theory unifies brain function and living systems. This framework aligns with Hegelian dialectics, revealing how organisms sustain internal contradictions for perpetual adaptation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Philosophy of Mind
- Systems Biology
Background:
- Karl Friston's free energy principle offers a unifying theory for brain function and living systems.
- The principle is broadly applicable, suggesting an *a priori* foundation for biological organization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the convergence between Friston's free energy minimization and Georg Hegel's dialectics.
- To demonstrate how Friston's framework reinvigorates Hegelian dialectics through a neuroscience lens.
- To re-interpret free energy minimization through Hegelian speculative philosophy.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis linking Friston's free energy principle with Hegelian dialectics.
- Utilizing Catherine Malabou's work to bridge neuroscience and Hegelian philosophy.
- Examining the organism's relationship with its environment through a dialectical lens.
Main Results:
- Friston's framework implicitly aligns with Hegelian dialectics.
- A Hegelian perspective reveals free energy minimization as a process grounded in internal contradiction.
- This perspective moves beyond the cognitivism vs. enactivism debate.
Conclusions:
- The tension between an organism's seclusion and its environmental interaction is central to Friston's anticipatory organism.
- This internalized contradiction-tension is the driving force behind perpetual free energy minimization.
- Friston's theory, when viewed through a Hegelian lens, offers profound insights into the nature of life and cognition.
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