Environment and Information: What is Alive and What is Dead in J.J. Gibson Ecological Theory of Perception

Mattia della Rocca (Università di Roma Tor Vergata) will give a talk in the framework of the lecture series on ‘History of the Human Mind’ hosted by the EUI History of Science and Medicine Working Group.

Mattia Della Rocca will discuss James J. Gibson’s The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception from 1979. Through the analysis of Gibson’s book, Mattia Della Rocca will present his work in progress about the historical evolution of psychology and cognitive science. In the past two decades, historians and philosophers of psychiatry and psychology have been using a definition of the mind as “embodied cognition”. The epistemic entitlements of this “enactive turn” are to be understood alongside their consequences on psychiatry and “abnormal” psychology. In this framework, Mattia Della Rocca’s presentation will put into perspective the concept of “cognitive environment” by looking at both its classical definition within behavioral environment studies and its more recent development in environmental humanities and the psychology of digital environments.

Participation is possible both on-premises (Villa Salviati, Florence) and on Zoom. If you wish to register, use the following link: https://www.eui.eu/events?id=554301

You will receive the zoom link after registration. Make sure to send an e-mail to Timo Houtekamer to acquire the reading material (timo.houtekamer@eui.eu).