Clinical cognition and embodiment

Citation

Paley J (2004) Clinical cognition and embodiment. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 41 (1), pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7489%2803%2900081-6

Abstract
I first identify two different distinctions: between Cartesian cognition and embodied cognition, and between calculative rationality and intuitive know-how. I then suggest that, in the nursing literature, these two distinctions are run together, to create an opposition between ‘Cartesian rationality’ and ‘embodied know-how’. However, it is vital to keep the two distinctions apart, because ‘embodied knowing’ is very frequently rational. In separating the idea of embodied cognition from non-rational intuition, I show how ‘embodiment’ leads to the concepts of distributed cognition and distributed expertise. This has extensive and important implications for how we understand clinical cognition in nursing.

Keywords
Cartesian; Cognition; Distributed; Embodiment; Expertise; Cognitive psychology; Nursing Philosophy History; Nursing care

Journal
International Journal of Nursing Studies: Volume 41, Issue 1