Cognitive Rigidity

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes cognitive rigidity. The paper introduces Wittgenstein, who discusses ?seeing an aspect?, and explains how those who do not have the experience of the dawning of an aspect may have "aspect blindness", which results in an inability to sense that one aspect is incompatible with another. The paper questions whether there is a necessary connection between such cognitive rigidity and behavioral inflexibility, characterized by mechanical responses, rigid routines, and empathetic blindness. The paper discusses Stephen Mulhall's claims that there is such a connection. The paper explores Paul Feyerabend?s "Against Method".

From the Paper:

"In Part II of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations some thoughts appear about seeing aspects, and those remarks were culled out of the many more comments found in the first of his two volumes of his Last Writings on Philosophical Psychology, as well as in his Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology. What follows in this first section is a review of that discussion, in order to extract the philosophical picture with which he was preoccupied, as well as to summarize his alternative explanation for seeing aspects, how an aspect dawns on someone, what is involved in aspect change, and the nature of aspect blindness.
Seeing an Aspect. One might recall looking at puzzles during childhood in which one was instructed to look at a simple line drawing of a scene (such as a garden) in which figures (such as several faces) would be in the picture. The puzzle caption might have read something like "Can You Find the Hidden Faces?" Upon looking closer at the picture of the garden, one would then suddenly see a face, drawn as part of one of the flowers, another face upside down in the clouds of the sky, and so forth. That is, one initially saw a picture which upon closer scrutiny revealed details that one did not see before. The images (of the faces) were already there, but at first glance one only saw a garden scene."

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