Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-pkds5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-18T14:55:45.518Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bayesian realism and structural representation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2022

Alex Kiefer Open the ORCID record for Alex Kiefer [Opens in a new window]  and
Jakob Hohwy Open the ORCID record for Jakob Hohwy [Opens in a new window]
Alex Kiefer
Affiliation:
Cognition & Philosophy Lab, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia Alex.Kiefer@monash.edu alexbkiefer.net
Jakob Hohwy
Affiliation:
Monash Center for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies, Cognition & Philosophy Lab, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia Jakob.Hohwy@monash.edu https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/jakob-hohwy
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We challenge the authors' view that Markov blankets are illicitly reified when used to describe organismic boundaries. We do this both on general methodological grounds, where we appeal to a form of structural realism derived from Bayesian cognitive science to dissolve the problem, and by rebutting specific arguments in the target article.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e199
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Cummins, R. (1991). Meaning and mental representation. MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friston, K. J., Fagerholm, E. D., Zarghami, T. S., Parr, T., Hipólito, I., Magrou, L., & Razi, A. (2021). Parcels and particles: Markov blankets in the brain. Network Neuroscience, 5(1), 211–251. https://doi.org/10.1162/netn_a_00175CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hohwy, J. (2016). The self-evidencing brain. Noûs, 50(2), 259–285. https://doi.org/10.1111/nous.12062CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiefer, A., & Hohwy, J. (2017) Content and misrepresentation in hierarchical generative models. Synthese, 195(Special issue on predictive brains (Kirchhoff, M., ed.)), 2387–2415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiefer, A. B., & Hohwy, J. (2019). Representation in the prediction error minimization framework. In Robins, S., Symons, J., & Calvo, P. (Eds.), The Routledge companion to the philosophy of psychology (2nd ed., pp. 384–409). Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladyman, J. (1998) What is structural realism? Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 29(3), 409–424. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-3681(98)80129-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladyman, J., & Ross, D. (2007). Every thing must go: Metaphysics naturalised. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276196.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnam, H. (1975). Mathematics, matter and method. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar