Mark Miller
I am a philosopher of cognition. This means that I apply the tools of conceptual analysis and theoretical model building to answer fundamental questions about human cognition - about the way that human beings think. My research investigates the implications of a leading new perspective on cognition, which conceptualizes the mind as an engine of knowledge-driven predictions (i.e., the “predictive mind”). I work to integrate this body of work with the so called “4E cognition” view, which emphasizes the role of embodied processes in constituting what we call a mind. By foregrounding the role of action, emotion, social interaction and the wider socio-technological niche in cognitive processing, I have developed new naturalistic accounts of philosophically central concepts, such as curiosity and playfulness, desire, addiction, depression and mood disorders, depersonalization and self-less experiences in meditation, and human happiness and flourishing. Personal website: markdmiller.org.