Radical Enactivism is a position in the philosophy of
cognitive science that aims to displace representationalism,
the dominant position in cognitive science for the last 50-60
years. To accomplish this aim, radical enactivism must
provide an alternative explanation of cognition. Radical
enactivism offers two alternative explanations of cognition.
The first I call the dynamical explanation and the second I call
the historical explanation. The mechanists have given us
reasons for doubting that the first alternative makes for a good
explanation. The historical explanation does not hit the right
explanatory target without the introduction of a proximate
mechanism, but the proximate mechanisms suggested by
radical enactivism are associationist mechanisms, the
limitations of which led to the initial widespread endorsement
of representationalism. Therefore, radical enactivism cannot
displace representationalism in cognitive science.