The Sensorimotor FAQ

This is the FAQ that was used as the basis of the tutorial I gave at the ASSC 10 meeting in Oxford in June 2006. Please add extra questions if you feel this is warranted.

I am gradually working on the replies. Please feel free to provide your own if you want, or to criticize mine!


Why it does not deny representations
Why it does not claim action is required for sensation
Why hallucinations, dreams and imagery do not contradict it?
Why it does not deny qualia nor simply explain away phenomenal consciousness
Why appealing to cognitive access or attention does not make it circular
Why the approach is not a denial of the brain


Why the sensorimotor approach is different from the enactive and dynamical systems approaches
How the sensorimotor approach is different from behaviorism
How it's different from Gibson's ecological approach
Is it just a form of functionalism? Is it eliminativist?
Is it just another higher order thought theory?
How does it differ from global workspace type models?
In what way does the approach differ from Dennett's?
What is the relation to Merleau Ponty/Heidegger/Bergson/Al Hazen
Gareth Evans??


What does the theory have to say about the dorsal-ventral distinction, cortical maps, filling-in, mirror neurons, face areas??
How does it deal with inverted qualia and the knowledge argument?
What does it say about emotions? The notion of self? Free will? The experienced quality of thoughts?
Does the approach need a leap of faith?
Can the sensorimotor approach be tested - ie is it a scientific theory??