The embodied mind
education as the transformation of habits
pp. 137-150
in: Inna Semetsky (ed), Edusemiotics, Berlin, Springer, 2017Abstract
Mind asembodiedin nature—in contrast to thehumanmind andnatural worldbeing consideredbinarycategories as separate Cartesian substances that oppose each other—is a feature of edusemiotics.Edusemioticsposits the transformation ofhabits, inthoughtand action alike, at its core and aims to not only explore such a process theoretically but also enable it at the level of practice. This chapter draws from Charles S. Peirce's semiotics andJohn Dewey'seducational philosophy to demonstrate that not onlyhabit-takingbut alsohabit-breakingare intrinsic to semiosis as theaction of signsthat cuts acrossmind–bodydualism and allows us to becomeawareof our very habits as unconscious dispositions. Peirce's and Dewey's approach to learning from and byexperienceprovides a theoreticalfoundationfor this formalization. The chapter alsobridgesthe discourses in humanities and sciences by bringing into the conversation the cutting-edgescience of coordination dynamicswith its corresponding philosophy ofcomplementary pairsthat has an uncannyaffinitywith semiotics as the science of signs. The chapter concludes by considering anedusemioticapproach to moraleducation.
