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Is the Free-Energy Principle a Formal Theory ofSemantics? From Variational Density Dynamics toNeural and Phenotypic Representations by Maxwell J. D. Ramstead 1,2,3,*, Karl J. Friston 3 and Inês Hipólito 4,5 is a book available to read on EtoBox.

What is Is the Free-Energy Principle a Formal Theory ofSemantics? From Variational Density Dynamics toNeural and Phenotypic Representations about?

Abstract: The aim of this paper is twofold: (1) to assess whether the construct of neural representationsplays an explanatory role under the variational free-energy principle and its corollary processtheory, active inference; and (2) if so, to assess which philosophical stance—in relation to theontological and epistemological status of representations—is most appropriate. We focus onnon-realist (deflationary and fictionalist-instrumentalist) approaches. We consider a deflationaryaccount of mental representation, according to which the explanatorily relevant contents of neuralrepresentations are mathematical, rather than cognitive, and a fictionalist or instrumentalist account,according to which representations are scientifically useful fictions that serve explanatory (andother) aims. After reviewing the free-energy principle and active inference, we argue that themodel of adaptive phenotypes under the free-energy principle can be used to furnish a formalsemantics, enabling us to assign semantic content to specific phenotypic states (the internal states of aMarkovian system that exists far from equilibrium). We propose a modified fictionalist account—anorganism-centered fictionalism

Author

Maxwell J. D. Ramstead 1,2,3,*, Karl J. Friston 3 and Inês Hipólito 4,5

Published

2025

Language

EN