ARC projects awarded 2004

The Evolution of Embodied Intelligence
DP0451758
Prof K Sterelny (RSSS, ANU)
Research Associate: Dr Richard Joyce
2004 : $64,343
2005 : $71,993
2006 : $64,343

The aim of the project is to write a collaborative monograph that integrates the recent development in cognitive science of alternatives to classical cognitivism with recent developments in evolutionary biology. Those developments include in particular the recognition of the importance both of non-genetic inheritance and of the role agents play in constructing their own environments. The monograph will argue that these evolutionary processes are of particular importance in human evolution, and they are the key to explaining how it is that humans are simultaneously encultured beings and biological agents.

The Federation Fellowship project aims to develop a research centre that will be a world leader in the study of consciousness. The focus will be the question: How does human consciousness represent the world? The science of consciousness has seen explosive growth internationally in the past decade, but the relationship between consciousness and representation is not well understood. Through local and international collaboration, researchers will develop a framework for understanding the representational content of consciousness and will analyse experimental work at the leading edge of neuroscience and cognitive science. The project aims to improve understanding of consciousness, of representation and of associated neural and cognitive mechanisms. Potentially, this could lead to social and medical benefits such as contributing to ethical and legal considerations associated with patients in coma.