Anti-representationalism: Not a Well-founded Theory of Cognition

This article argues for the conclusion that anti-representationalism in the cognitive sciences is not a well-founded theory of cognition. This conclusion is supported by the observation that the link between the sceptical demonstrations and the anti-representational conclusion is too weak for the demonstrations to justify anti-representationalism in general. Rather than denying the need for internal representation, this article aim to establish that representational explanation reconstructed within a dynamical agent-environment characterization serves a necessary epistemic and ontological aim: It enables us to demarcate activities that presuppose intentionality and behavioral autonomy from activities that are merely reactive and situation-determined.