Beyond Local Domains: Connective Ontology in (Post-)Cognitive Sociology.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Sociology
• Philosophy of Mind

Background:

• Cognitive science ontology is traditionally dominated by cognitivism, viewing cognition as internal information processing.
• Contemporary cognitivism posits localized, domain-specific cognitive functions within dedicated brain regions.
• Peripheral cognitive science and post-cognitivist scholarship challenge these views, proposing cognition as embedded in socio-material ecologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To argue for the integration of post-cognitivist perspectives into cognitive sociology.
• To demonstrate how a "connective ontology" can reconceptualize cognition sociologically.
• To move beyond cognitivist limitations towards a social understanding of cognition.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of ontological frameworks in cognitive science and sociology.
• Application of "connective ontology" from the sociology of personal life.
• Critique of cognitivist assumptions in cognitive sociology.

Main Results:

• Post-cognitivism offers a framework to view cognition as dynamically emergent and ecologically embedded.
• Connective ontology conceptualizes cognition as "ecological connective energies."
• This reconceptualization facilitates a genuine social ontology for cognition.

Conclusions:

• Cognitive sociology can be enriched by adopting post-cognitivist science.
• Reconceptualizing cognition through connective ontology moves beyond the limitations of cognitivism.
• This shift allows for a more robust sociological understanding of cognition as a social phenomenon.