“Something that we know when no one asks us, but no longer know when we are supposed to give an account of it, is something that we need to remind ourselves of. (And it is obviously something of which for some reason it is difficult to remind oneself).” Ludwig Wittgenstein PI 89.

“Obstinate disputes in Philosophy are maintained by life presenting itself under diverse aspects. …My great word is that the thing to go your bottom dollar on should not be a doctrine but a method. For a vital method will correct itself and doctrines too. Doctrines are crystals, methods are ferments.” Charles Sanders Peirce (from a letter to Judge Francis C. Russell, 1892).

Dr. Richard Menary

B.A. (Hons) (Ulster), MSc (Birmingham), PhD (King's London)

Location: 19:1086
Email: rmenary@uow.edu.au
Telephone: 02 4221 3099

Lecturer in Philosophy

I read for a BA in philosophy at the University of Ulster, an MSc in Cognitive Science at the University of Birmingham and then a PhD in philosophy at King's College London. I have taught Philosophy at the University of Kent, Birkbeck College Faculty of Continuing Education and as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire. I am currently lecturing at the University of Wollongong, where I am also co-convener of the Philosophy Research Seminar.

I live with my wife and two cats on the New South Wales coast, close to some excellent beaches. I come from a musical family, my parents were both professional musicians, and so I spend a lot of time listening to and thinking about music.

Research Interests

Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Pragmatism - especially C.S. Peirce, Wittgenstein, Aesthetics, and virtue theory as it applies to both ethical and cognitive aspects of the individual.

My main current research interest concerns extended mind style arguments, my own take on which I call cognitive integration. According to which the real pay-off from extended-mind-style arguments is not a new form of externalism in the philosophy of mind, but rather a view in which the ‘internal’ and ‘external’ aspects of cognition are integrated into a whole. I argue for this thesis in my book Cognitive Integration: Mind and Cognition Unbounded (see below).

Works in Progress

• The Philosophy of Cognition. Under contract with Acumen Press (in progress).
• Pragmatic Externalism (working title) I also am currently working on a book that complements Cognitive Integration by examining a dynamical approach to representation and content, by seeking to unite meaning externalism with the integrationist project concerning cognition.

Publications

Searchable RIS publications from 2000 to date

Books

• Cognitive Integration: Mind and Cognition Unbounded. Palgrave Macmillan 2007.

Edited Books

• Richard Menary (ed.) The Extended Mind. Ashgate forthcoming.
• Richard Menary (ed.) Radical Enactivism: Emotion, Intentionality and Phenomenology. Consciousness and Emotion 2006.

Contributions to Books

• "Cognitive Integration and the Extended Mind" in The Extended Mind Ashgate forthcoming.

Articles

• "Attacking the Bounds of Cognition" in Philosophical Psychology. June 2006. Special edition on Embodied Cognition, ed., John Sutton.
• “Writing as Thinking” in Language Sciences. 2007.
• "What is Radical Enactivism?" in Consciousness and Emotion. 2006.
• "Wittgenstein And Peirce on Doubt" in vol. XI of the Contributions of the ALWS, edited by Winfried Löffler & Paul Weingartner 2003.

Conference Papers

• Towards a Science of Consciousness, Budapest July 2007
• Workshop on The Embodied Mind, University of Hull July 2007
• Embodied and Situated Cognition: From Phenomenology to Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence, Torun, Poland (invited) Nov 2006
• "Aristotle on Art and Emotion” Aristotelian Encounters, Roosevelt Academy, Middelburg, The Netherlands January 2007.
• Embodied Cognition Workshop, University College Cardiff July 2006.
• “Cognitive Practices.” The Extended Mind 2 University of Hertfordshire July 2006.
• "Parity Problems" Extended In The Fjords, ASIC July 2006.
• "Does Enactivism Need Representations?" APA Central Division Meeting April 2006.
• Symposium on Extended Cognition, University of Antwerp, Belgium (invited) 15 March 2006
• Making 3d Visual Research Outcomes Transparent , An invitational symposium and expert seminar , The British Academy , London 24 February 2006.
• "Writing and Thinking." Distributed Language University of Cambridge September 2005.
• "The Art of Memory and Art as Memory." The Interactive Mind University of Sussex July 2005.
• “Challenging the Generic” Future Discourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophy, The University of Leeds 1-2 July 2005.
• "Attacking The Bounds of Cognition." Workshops on Memory and Embodied Cognition. At Macquarie University, Sydney November/December 2004.
• "Cognitive Norms and External Notations." Società Italiana di Filosofia Analitica, Where Is Your Head At? At Vietri Sul Mare Italy October 2003.
• "What's Wrong With The Extended Mind?" Mind and Society. Manchester Metropolitan University, September 2003.
• "Wittgenstein And Peirce on Doubt." 26th International Wittgenstein Symposium, at Kirchberg/Wechsel Austria, August, 2003.
• “The Integration of Meaning and Action” Integrational Linguistics and Distributed Cognition, University of Durban, South Africa. March 2003.
• "The Pragmatic Development of Sign Use and the Limits of Object Naturalism" (with D. Hutto), Natural Representations, University of Sydney, Australia. June, 2002.
• “Normativity and The Extended Mind” The Extended Mind: The Very Idea, The University of Hertfordshire. June/July 2001.

Conferences Organised

• The Extended Mind: The Very Idea, at the University of Hertfordshire in June 2001.
• The Extended Mind 2: Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back in The Head. University of Hertfordshire June/July 2006.

Departmental Visits

• The University of Murcia November 2005.
• University of Hertfordshire (Psychology) February 2005
• The University of Sussex, COGS February 2006.
• Macquarie University August 2007.

Grants Awarded

• LTSN project on Progress Files (£3000) 2004.
• LTDU grant to develop CRITThink web-based critical thinking resources (£4,000) 2002.
• British Academy Conference grant £1084 (with Michael Wheeler) 2006
• Mind Association small conference grant £600 (with Michael Wheeler) 2006
• Analysis trust conference grant £250 (with Michael Wheeler) 2006

Referee Work

• Cambridge University Press
• Palgrave Macmillan
• Language Sciences
• Philosophical Psychology

External Examiner

M(Res) thesis Macquarie University

Last reviewed: 22 October, 2008