The text can be found here. You can also (or alternatively) watch David Chalmers' TedxTalk on the topic here. 

What Clark and Chalmers Argue

Clark and Chalmers propose that the mind isn't trapped inside the skull. Cognitive processes routinely extend into the environment through the tools we use — notebooks, calculators, smartphones, even other people. Their famous thought experiment contrasts Inga, who remembers a museum's address from biological memory, with Otto, an Alzheimer's patient who consults his trusty notebook. If Inga's memory counts as a genuine belief, they argue, so should Otto's notebook entry. The notebook plays the same functional role memory plays for Inga — reliably available, automatically endorsed, easily accessed. To deny it belief-status is mere prejudice in favor of the biological.

The Parity Principle

The heart of their argument is the "parity principle": if a process in the world functions in a way we'd happily call cognitive were it going on in the head, then it is part of the cognitive process. Mind isn't defined by location but by function. On this view, you and your phone may literally constitute a single thinking system. The boundaries of the self become porous — extending outward into the artifacts and environments we rely on to think.

Helpful Questions to Keep in Mind

1) Is Otto's notebook really a part of his mind, or just a very useful tool? What's the difference?

2) Clark and Chalmers require that the external resource be reliably available, automatically trusted, and easily accessed. Does your smartphone meet these criteria? Does Wikipedia?

3) If your phone is part of your mind, is losing it a kind of cognitive injury? Is having it stolen a kind of assault?

4) Could two people sharing a notebook, a shared document, or a long marriage constitute a single extended cognitive system?

5) Does the extended mind thesis trade on a confusion between using a tool to think and the tool itself doing the thinking?

6) If minds extend into the environment, where do you end? 

7) Does relying heavily on external cognitive tools (GPS, search engines, AI assistants) enhance our minds or atrophy them — or is that the wrong question entirely?

These sessions are participant-driven discussions focused on philosophical essays, facilitated by a trained CU Boulder philosopher. Our goal at each discussion is to build a philosophical dialogue by investigating as a community of thinkers. Each session focuses on a philosophical text, but we do not regard the authors we read as unquestionable authorities. Rather, we consider each author to be another voice in our shared dialogue. 

To prepare, please read the selected text to the best of your ability. Most months you'll find a reading guide linked above. If you are unable to read ahead, please come anyway. We recommend bring a copy of the reading with you - digital or printed out.

At the discussion, after brief introductions and a review of the discussion policies, the facilitator will ask participants to share questions and ideas for group discussion.  The facilitator will then guide the group in working through as many of their questions as possible before recapping and wrapping up the discussion.

No background in philosophy is expected or required. We are excited to discuss the ideas raised by your interaction with the text!

Click here for our discussion guidelines.

Boulder Public Library "Classics of Philosophy" reading group:

We used to have a group just like this group, but meeting on the 2nd Monday of each month. This group has closed, but you can still brows the list of past sessions for ideas on things to read!

Great philosophy podcasts

The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps - Over 350 episodes covering various philosophers and topics. Includes episode series on Indian philosophy and Africana philosophy.

Hi-Phi Nation - approximately 40 episodes (as of 2020) that discuss philosophical ideas in contemporary contexts.  The most recent seasons have focused on issues of justice and politics.

Discussion groups

Grey Havens Philosophy - A Longmont, CO based nonprofit running weekly and monthly philosophical discussion groups for all ages.

Your local philosophers!

Philosophy Department at the University of Colorado - Boulder