HAND : perception, cognition, action

192 Pages·2018·3.825 MB·English

Studies in Applied Philosophy,
Epistemology and Rational Ethics
Marta Bertolaso
Nicola Di Stefano Editors
The Hand
Perception, Cognition, Action
Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology
and Rational Ethics
Volume 38
Series editor
Lorenzo Magnani, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
e-mail: [email protected]
Editorial Board
Atocha Aliseda
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Coyoacan, Mexico
Giuseppe Longo
Centre Cavaillès, CNRS—Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
Chris Sinha
School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Changsha, P.R. China
Paul Thagard
Waterloo University, Waterloo, ON, Canada
John Woods
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
About this Series
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More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10087
Marta Bertolaso Nicola Di Stefano
(cid:129)
Editors
The Hand
Perception, Cognition, Action
123
Editors
Marta Bertolaso NicolaDi Stefano
Institute of Philosophy of Scientific Institute of Philosophy of Scientific
andTechnologicalPractice andTechnologicalPractice
UniversitàCampus Bio-Medico di Roma UniversitàCampus Bio-Medico di Roma
Rome Rome
Italy Italy
ISSN 2192-6255 ISSN 2192-6263 (electronic)
Studies in AppliedPhilosophy,Epistemology and Rational Ethics
ISBN978-3-319-66880-2 ISBN978-3-319-66881-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-66881-9
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Preface
This volume “The Hand. Perception, Cognition, Action” results from the conver-
gencebetweenresearchprogramsdevelopedattheUniversityCampusBio-Medico
(Rome,Italy)andinternationalscholarsinordertoprovideasolidinterdisciplinary
network of knowledge and research questions.
Recentprogressesinthefieldofartificialhanddesignandsurgeryhaveplayeda
crucialroleinthepaththateventuallyledtothepresentvolume.Thefieldofstudy
connected to upper limb prosthetic, in fact, is challenging a wide range of disci-
plines and providing significant insights on hands’ biomechanical functions.
Developing competitive projects on biorobotics and prosthetics requires unprece-
dentedinterdisciplinaryeffortsandsensitivitythatsometimescallintoquestionthe
conceptualfoundationsofdisciplines.Forexample,thepossibilitytorestoretactile
perception in amputees through neural interfaces stimulates reflections in neuro-
science,philosophyofperception,andpsychology.Accordingly,thevolumeoffers
an overview of the extraordinary role of the hand in human life by taking into
consideration different perspectives, from neuroscience and bioengineering to
psychology, from anthropology to philosophy and aesthetics.
In the first part—From Action to Cognition, from Cognition to Action—the
authors focus on the impact of the use of hand in human neurobiological and psy-
chological development, highlighting the mutual influence of motor and cognitive
domains on human development. By introducing the cognitive properties of the
mirror neuron system, L. Fogassi (Chapter “The Cognitive Properties of the Motor
System and Mirror Neurons”) considers the importance of actions performed by
non-humanprimates’upperlimbtounderstandthegoalofactions.Thesamesystem
inhumansismediatedbyhandandisresponsibleforhighercognitivefunctions,such
associalcommunication,imitation,andactionunderstanding.InChapter“Children’s
Object Manipulation: A Tool for Knowing the External World and for
Communicative Development,” V. Focaroli and J. Iverson consider the use of
hand in the first stages of child development. Through an accurate review on the
acquisition of manipulative skills in infants, they show that this progressive acqui-
sitionisanimportantdevelopmentalmilestone,thushighlightingtheinterdependency
between object exploration and language development. The relationship between
v
vi Preface
hand and language is addressed by L. Sparaci and V. Volterra (Chapter “Hands
ShapingCommunication:FromGesturestoSigns”),whoprovideacompleteanalysis
oftheroleofhandshapefromamultimodalandembodiedperspective,whichresultsin
anintegrativereviewoftheseveralperspectivesonthecommunicativefunctionofthe
hand.F.Taffonietal.(Chapter“Primates’PropensitytoExploreObjects:HowManual
ActionsAffectLearninginChildrenandCapuchinMonkeys”)comparetheimpactof
objects explorationinchildrenand in non-human primates,showing that spontaneous
explorationmediatedbythehandhasagreatbiologicalsignificancebecauseitallows
to discover and learn the relationship between action and effect and to plan
goal-directedtasks.Resultsfromanexperimentwithnon-humanprimatesandchildren
are also discussed there. A.L. Ciancio et al. (Chapter “Current Achievements and
Future Directions of Hand Prostheses Controlled via Peripheral Nervous System”)
concludethefirstpartofthevolume,facingtheissueofthehandfromoneofthemost
advanced fields of research in bioengineering, i.e. neuroprosthetics. They present the
stateoftheartoftechnologicaladvancementsintheuseofneuralinterfacesinorderto
restore tactile perception in amputees, showing the complexity of the “hand system”
and evidencing the strong linkage between perception, cognition, and action.
The second part of the volume considers the role of the hand in human identity
and creativity, highlighting the importance of hand use in those activities that
profoundly characterize human rationality and identity, such as playing and lis-
tening to music, cooking, or caring. M.T. Russo (Chapter “The Human Hand as a
Microcosm.APhilosophicalOverviewontheHandandItsRoleintheProcessesof
Perception, Action and Cognition”) opens the part with a theoretical overview on
the various philosophical discussions on the hand. Starting from the Greek debate
betweenAristotleandAnaxagoras,Theauthorfocusesonthecontroversybetween
the primacy of touch (i.e., hand) or that of sight (eye) in the characterization of
human intelligence and on the consequences that this early debate has in the
modern conception of the mind. J.M. Chillon (Chapter “Ready-to-Hand in
Heidegger. Philosophy as an Everyday Understanding of the World and the
Question Concerning Technology”) tackles a traditional question for Heideggerian
scholars, i.e., the question of technology, which is properly centered in the notion
ofZuhandenheit (readiness-to-hand). The relationship between man and the
handiness world is thus presented in connection with the notion of technique and
modern technology. Chapters “The Therapeutic Hand” and “Cooking and Human
Evolution”facetwofundamentaldimensionsofhumanlifeessentiallymediatedby
thehand—i.e.,caringandcooking.Intheworldofhealthcare,thehandrepresents
a medium for building an affective (and effective) relationship between caregivers
and patients. The chapter by X. Escribano and A. Pérez-Bellmunt (Chapter “The
Therapeutic Hand”) thus leads to the anthropology of caring as an essential part
oftheartofhealingandcaring.Instrumental,cognitive,andpathicatthesametime,
the therapeutic hand is here presented through its multidimensional features that
cooperate for the care and healing of the human person. In Chapter “Cooking and
HumanEvolution,”groundingontheworksbyRichardWrangham,M.P.Chirinos
stresses the role of cooking in the transition from hominization to humanization.
The role of hand specialization in this biocultural practice made our digestive
Preface vii
systemsodifferentfromotherprimates,thusimpactingalsoonsocialbehaviorand
habits.Thevolumeendsconsideringtheaestheticdimensionofhumans.InChapter
“EssentialtoArt,”S.Castrofacestherelationshipbetweenaestheticexperienceand
touch, framing it within the traditional primacy of “intellectual” senses (i.e., sight
and hearing) with respect to lower ones (i.e., smell, taste, and touch). Finally, in
Chapter “On the Role of the Hand in the Expression of Music,” M. Leman et al.
provide a review of the role of the hand in the expression of music, focusing on
differentdimensionsofmusicexperience,i.e.,musicplaying,listening,conducting,
and learning.
Integrating biological, technological, and philosophical contributions, the vol-
ume aims at providing an innovative perspective on the issues related to hand.
Though technological development has always offered new opportunities for sci-
entific and social advancements, nowadays technology and biomedicine are coe-
volving in extraordinary ways, asking philosophy and epistemology to understand
the implications of these movements, e.g. the reshape of traditional philosophical
concepts such as the opposition between natural and artificial, or basilar notions
such as body, hand, or perception. More academic effort is expected in this
direction, i.e. the identification of philosophical issues that are emerging within
science and that inextricably connect life, technology, and cultural practices, thus
emphasizing their mutual interdependencies.
Rome, Italy Marta Bertolaso
Nicola Di Stefano
Contents
Part I From Action to Cognition, from Cognition to Action
The Cognitive Properties of the Motor System
and Mirror Neurons.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 3
Leonardo Fogassi
Children’s Object Manipulation: A Tool for Knowing
the External World and for Communicative Development .. ..... .... 19
Valentina Focaroli and Jana M. Iverson
Hands Shaping Communication: From Gestures to Signs... ..... .... 29
Laura Sparaci and Virginia Volterra
Primates’ Propensity to Explore Objects: How Manual Actions
Affect Learning in Children and Capuchin Monkeys... .... ..... .... 55
Fabrizio Taffoni, Eugenia Polizzi di Sorrentino, Gloria Sabbatini,
Domenico Formica and Valentina Truppa
Current Achievements and Future Directions of Hand Prostheses
Controlled via Peripheral Nervous System ... .... .... .... ..... .... 75
Anna Lisa Ciancio, Francesca Cordella, Klaus-Peter Hoffmann,
Andreas Schneider, Eugenio Guglielmelli and Loredana Zollo
Part II The Hand, Human Identity and Creativity
The Human Hand as a Microcosm. A Philosophical Overview
on the Hand and Its Role in the Processes of Perception, Action,
and Cognition . .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 99
Maria Teresa Russo
Ready-to-Hand in Heidegger. Philosophy as an Everyday
Understanding of the World and the Question
Concerning Technology . .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 115
José Manuel Chillón
ix
x Contents
The Therapeutic Hand.. .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 127
Xavier Escribano and Albert Pérez-Bellmunt
Cooking and Human Evolution.... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 147
Maria Pia Chirinos
Essential to Art.... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 163
Sixto J. Castro
On the Role of the Hand in the Expression of Music... .... ..... .... 175
Marc Leman, Luc Nijs and Nicola Di Stefano