Doing it and meaning it (and the relationship between the two) (pre-published version)

Abstract

A number of related approaches to cognition and consciousness have been gaining momentum in the literature in recent years, emphasizing the active, embodied nature of the mind and grounding mental states and processes in the interaction between mind, body and world. These approaches are here gathered under the title "enactive". Given a working hypothesis, that there is a meaningfulness to our conscious states that seems fundamental to those conscious states, implications of this enactive approach to mind are outlined. It is argued that taking such an enactive approach implies a fundamental role for motivational states and goals, which currently lack an explicit explanation in consciousness studies or Cognitive Science more generally. An enactive framework for considering goals is sketched, and two of the more dramatic implications for our understandings and investigations of consciousness are outlined.