Dwie „połowy” kategoryzacji: neurokognitywne determinanty uwagi w filozoficznym sporze o modele kategoryzacji poznawczej
Two “Halves” of Categorization: Neurocognitive Determinants of Attention in the Philosophical Dispute over Models of Cognitive Categorization

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to revise the foundations of the ongoing dispute in epistemology over the models of cognitive categorization, polarized between opposing positions: the classical model and the prototypical model. According to the thesis of our article, the attempt to reduce the process of categorization to a single model is an endeavor based on erroneous assumptions, since from the point of view of neuropsychology both modes have their own cognitive justification and usually function in conjunction. We prove the thesis based on collected descriptions of the typical ways of categorization made by autistic people, providing cognitive mechanisms for their explanation. These mechanisms, consistent with the weak central coherence theory, are associated with atypical attentional processes. The final section of the paper is devoted to speculations derived from Iain McGilchrist’s hemispheric hypothesis on the potential neural substrates of attentional processes, that leads to distinct modes of categorization. Thus, we try to prove that the neurotypical way of processing cognitive information should assume both modes of cognitive categorization, and the confrontational way of posing this problem does not provide the possibility of empirically valid conclusion.

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