One of the speakers at The Organic and the Normative conference, taking place between July 30–August 1, 2024 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, is going to be Ela Praznik.

Ela Praznik is a PhD student of philosophy at the University of Ljubljana and a young research candidate at the Institute Nova Revija for the Humanities. With a background in cognitive science, molecular biology, and philosophy, she typically approaches theoretical problems through an interdisciplinary lens. Engaging with the frameworks of the Pittsburgh school of philosophy and 4E cognitive science, her current research focuses on attempts to naturalize normativity and its relevance for Wilfrid Sellars’ synoptic vision.

Abstract

Praznik E. (2022) Unframing through externalization. Constructivist Foundations 17(3): 244–245. https://constructivist.info/17/3/244

Prosen’s conception of the extension and temporal transformation of the bounds of viability of a single cognitive agent can be fruitfully complemented with a Sellarsian account of language as rule-governed behavior. Specifically, language allows for the externalization of the organism’s model of its own bounds of viability into a collective model that is instantiated in concrete linguistic practices that follow norms of use. This externalization gives cognitive agents the resources to unframe from their evolved problem space, extend their bounds of viability and transform them through time.