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Nothing but a useful tool? (F)utility and the free-energy principle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2022

Matteo Colombo Open the ORCID record for Matteo Colombo [Opens in a new window]
Matteo Colombo*
Affiliation:
Tilburg Center for Logic, Ethics and Philosophy of Science, Tilburg University, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands m.colombo@uvt.nlhttps://mteocolphi.wordpress.com/
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Abstract

Bruineberg and collaborators distinguish three philosophical positions about the status of Markov blankets in the context of active inference modelling, namely: literalism, realism, and instrumentalism. They criticize the first two positions and suggest that instrumentalism is “less problematic but also less interesting” (sect. 6.1.2, para. 5) Here, I sketch how literalists and realists might reply to Bruineberg et al.'s criticisms, and I explain why instrumentalism is more interesting and contentious than what Bruineberg and collaborators suggest.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e191
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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