Editing Tim van Gelder (section)

=== Dynamics and cognition ===
Van Gelder is a proponent of [[dynamicism]] or dynamic cognition in [[cognitive science]]. This is a theory of [[cognition]] that proposes that [[dynamical systems theory]] provides a better model (or metaphor) for human cognition than the 'computational' model. For example, that a [[Watt governor]] is a better metaphorical description of the way humans think than a [[Turing machine]] style computer.

In his first regular academic position at Indiana University, van Gelder was heavily influenced by researchers such as Robert Port, James Townsend, [[Esther Thelen]] and [[Linda B. Smith]] who were exploring cognition from a dynamical perspective, i.e., applying the tools of dynamical systems to studying cognitive processes. Van Gelder published a series of articles providing a philosophical commentary on the dynamical approach, culminating in his 1998 paper in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, where he articulated the dynamical approach to cognition and argued that it should be taken seriously as a broad empirical hypothesis comparable to the dominant hypothesis that cognition is digital computation.  In his most well-known paper, 'What Might Cognition Be If Not Computation,'<ref>{{cite journal |author= van Gelder, T |title=What might cognition be, if not computation? |journal=Journal of Philosophy |volume=92 |issue=7 |date=July 1995 |pages=345–381 |doi=10.2307/2941061 |jstor=2941061}}</ref> van Gelder used the Watt Governor as a model to contrast with the Turing Machine. Van Gelder came to be known as one of the foremost proponents of the dynamical approach, and even as an advocate of anti-[[mental representation|representationalism]], though he explicitly disavowed that extreme position.