Nested Markov blankets beyond internalism
Cognitive boundaries are multiple nested Markov blankets; brain, body, and world are not uniquely privileged.
Source
Multiscale integration: beyond internalism and externalism
Study at a glance
- Design
- Other — Free-energy/Markov-blanket argument for nested cognitive boundaries beyond internalism/externalism
- N
- Theoretical cognitive science/philosophy; not an empirical sample
- Population
- Debates on cognitive boundaries (brain, body, world) in embodied/extended cognition
- Outcome
- Multiple nested Markov blankets rather than a uniquely privileged cognitive boundary
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
What they did
They use the variational free-energy principle and Markov-blanket formalism to reject unique, essential cognitive boundaries and the Equal Partner Principle, defending a multiscale integrationist alternative to internalism versus externalism.
What they found
A living system is a hierarchy of blankets; which boundary matters depends on the phenomenon and explanatory interests, which implies both ontological and methodological pluralism coordinated by the FEP.
The limits
What it doesn't show
The FEP is not a theory of everything: it does not by itself explain the processes that constitute living systems, and it does not make every contributing factor equally important.
Key terms
- Markov blanket
- Statistical bipartition (sensory/active states) that renders internal and external states conditionally independent.
- Free Energy Principle
- Principle that quantities change so as to minimise expected free energy across scales.
- Equal Partner Principle
- Radical-enactivist claim that brain, body, and world must never be prioritised over one another.
- Ontological pluralism
- A system has many scientifically relevant boundaries (nested subsystems and niches).
- Methodological pluralism
- Different disciplines may privilege different nested boundaries given their questions.
- Multiscale integration
- View that cognition is assembled in informational dynamics across spatial and temporal scales.
Flashcards
Research intelligence for this paper
See its role on concept claims, tensions it is part of, placement history, and related discoveries.
Quiz yourself
On this paper, the boundaries of cognitive systems are
Common questions
Do they pick the brain, the body, or the environment as the real cognitive boundary?
None of them uniquely. Boundaries are nested and multiple; relevance tracks the phenomenon and explanatory interests.
Why reject the Equal Partner Principle?
Sometimes explaining a phenomenon does require privileging the brain (or another scale); equality should not be a priori.
What does a Markov blanket do here?
It individuates a system statistically: internal states influence the world via action, the world influences them via sensation.
Is the FEP a theory of everything?
No. It coordinates and constrains explanations across scales rather than replacing neuroscience or ecology.
More on Embodied mind