The socially extended mind

The concept of the extended mind, as introduced by Clark and Chalmers (1998) was meant in part to move beyond the standard Cartesian idea that cognition is something that happens in a private mental space, “in the head.” Elsewhere (Gallagher 2011; Gallagher and Crisafi 2009), I’ve pursued a liberal interpretation of the extended mind, suggesting that we consider cognitive processes as constituted in various social practices that occur within social and cultural institutions. This idea of the socially extended mind builds on the enactive idea of social affordances. Just as a notebook or a hand-held piece of technology may be viewed as affording a way to enhance or extend our mental possibilities, so the use of various institutional procedures and social practices may offer structures that support and extend our cognitive abilities.