CALL FOR PAPERS –
THIS SPECIAL ISSUE HAS NOW BEEN
PUBLISHED AS A BOOK, SEE BELOW
First special issue in the series Cognition and Technology
New Technologies and the
Pragmatics of Cognition
Cognitive
Technologies and the pragmatics of Cognition
Book description: Technology has long been a helpful aid in human cognitive activities. With its growing sophistication and usage technology is now taking a more intrinsic and active role in human cognition. The shift from an external aid to being an internal component of cognitive processing reflects a revolution in technology, cognition, and their interaction. The creation of such ‘cognitive technologies’ transforms the traditional instrumental function of technology to a constitutive role that shapes and defines cognition itself. This book explores the new horizon of these ‘cognitive technologies’ and their interactions with humans.
“This
book is a stimulating sampler of an extraordinarily important emerging field.
This field will have profound effects not only on how we humans think, feel and
behave - but also on what we humans are. Technology can no longer be considered
simply a product of human endeavor or a subject of
study, but must be understood as providing a context within which we live and
function. The chapters herein are of interest to psychologists, computer
scientists, neuroscientists and philosophers, and cannot help but open eyes to
new possibilities and new realities.”
Professor Stephen M. Kosslyn, Head of
Psychology,
“It used to be clear that human cognition was one
thing and that technology was another. But in our cyber-era of global networks,
multimedia, robots and tools that extend the powers of our eyes, hands and
brains it is becoming clear that cognition and technology are much more
profoundly interconnected and interactive than we had thought: The demands of
our evolutionary past shaped our brains and our cognitive capacities, but now
the "tools" we create with those cognitive capacities are drawing
upon and unleashing cognitive capacities we did not even know we had. The
boundary between what our brains are doing and what our brain-made technology
is doing is dissolving. This volume explores this new hybrid, symbiotic world,
with chapters by many of its front-line contributors.”
Professor Wendy Hall, Head of Electronics and Computer Science,
“This book explores the ways in which cognitive
technologies not only assist humans in their cognitive tasks, but actually
become part and parcel of our cognitive activity. Does this intimate
relationship bring about significant changes in the scope and nature of human
cognition? is the question raised in the book. The
philosophical and historical significance of an exploration of this issue in
the light of the most recent technological developments is immense; for it
addresses, ultimately, the central epistemological question of how our knowing
capacity can be improved (or hampered) by the tools our knowing capacity itself
develops. For the first time, technology is here envisaged not as a peripheral
tool vis-à-vis cognition, but as touching its very kernel.”
Professor Marcelo Dascal, Department of
Philosophy,
For more details and to order see:
Cognitive
Technologies and the pragmatics of Cognition or just go to Amazon (for US
Amazon or for
UK Amazon)
Editor:
Itiel Dror
(PLEASE SEE NOTE AT
BOTTOM OF PAGE)
Unlike
the Cartesian mind, whose cognitive activity was allegedly performed in
isolation from the external world, today it is widely acknowledged that
cognition is intertwined in the external context and extremely sensitive
to it. In this sense, it is typically a pragmatic phenomenon. It is also widely
recognized today that the technological environment became a major component of
the context within which cognition occurs. Technology’s interaction with
cognition is so extensive that it perhaps changes the nature of cognition itself.
This first of a series of special issues of Pragmatics & Cognition devoted to the relationships between technologies and cognition will explore the role of technology, particularly of the new cognition-related technologies, as an important factor to be taken into account in the pragmatics of cognition. We are calling for papers analyzing specific examples of such a role as well as discussing the broader implications of the pace and nature of technological innovation to the evolution of cognition. Whereas the following special issues will be each focused on a special kind of technology and/or cognitive process, this opening issue welcomes contributions dealing with the cognition-technology interface in any area. It also encourages submissions discussing the scientific, technological, philosophical, and human significance of the coming together of cognition and technology.
Deadline for submissions:
Publication: Summer 2005
NOTE: THIS ISSUE IS NOW PUBLISHED, FOR DETAILS, please
see: First Special Issue of Cognition and Technology.
Send submissions to:
Itiel Dror
Psychology
NOTE: THIS ISSUE IS NOW PUBLISHED, FOR DETAILS, please
see: First Special Issue of Cognition and Technology.