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Key research themes
1. How do language and action share hierarchical and syntactic organizational principles in cognitive processing and development?
This research area investigates the parallels between language and action, focusing on shared organizational structures such as semantics and syntax. It examines whether the cognitive and neural mechanisms processing hierarchical and recursive aspects of language syntax similarly apply to action sequences, with special attention to developmental trajectories and neurophysiological evidence. Understanding this relationship informs models of human social cognition and the embodied nature of cognitive processing.
Key finding: This paper presents evidence and theoretical considerations supporting the idea that both language and action share hierarchical and recursive organizational principles, particularly in syntax and semantics. It emphasizes... Read more
Key finding: Building on the link between language and action, this study conceptualizes actions as complex social moves composed of semiotic features interpreted as goal-directed behavior. It highlights that perceiving and responding to... Read more
Key finding: The paper argues that 'actions' in interaction are not discrete entities but conduct interpreted under particular descriptions, stressing the role of language in constituting and categorizing actions socially. It elucidates... Read more
2. What epistemological and process-oriented frameworks best characterize intentional action and agency?
Research in this theme explores the nature of intentional action beyond mere bodily movements or isolated acts of will, proposing nuanced frameworks that capture the knowledge, processes, and improvisational dynamics constituting agency. It investigates how agents’ intentional actions emerge via practical knowledge, situated responses, and the recursive relation between intention and action performance, addressing long-standing philosophical debates in action theory. These approaches integrate epistemological clarity and dynamic process ontology to advance understanding of how actions are enacted and how agents are constituted.
Key finding: Proposes that intentional action is best understood through 'ability-constituting knowledge' (AKA), a form of practical knowledge underpinning non-deviant causal efficacy of agent’s reasons in sustaining purposive behavior.... Read more
Key finding: Argues that action performance is fundamentally improvisational and situated, requiring ongoing attentive adjustments to environmental contingencies rather than strict adherence to prior plans. By employing Kantian judgment... Read more
Key finding: Advances the ontological claim that actions should be conceived as processes, not discrete events, offering a framework that distinguishes processes from events substantially beyond temporal extension. The paper elucidates... Read more
Key finding: Critiques standard views equating agency with either acts of will or basic bodily movements, proposing an alternative conception that better accommodates complex, sustained activities such as running. The analysis rejects... Read more
3. How does the principle of action and reaction apply across physical, social, and cognitive domains, and what are its implications for system dynamics and interaction?
This multidisciplinary research theme examines the foundational principle that every action elicits an equal and opposite reaction, exploring its formalization in classical mechanics as well as its broader applications in social interactions, cognitive systems, and complex networks. Studies interrogate the ontological status of forces and actions in physics, the role of action-reaction cycles in social accountability and discourse, and the quantification of relational dynamics across diverse systems. This synthesis enhances understanding of feedback, causality, and reciprocity as universal systemic principles.
Key finding: Provides a rigorous historical-philosophical analysis of Newton’s third law, clarifying its formulation as equality and opposition of forces acting between interacting bodies. The paper emphasizes that the principle is... Read more
Key finding: The study highlights that social actions are not simply raw behaviors but conduct recognized and made accountable under interpretative descriptions. It stresses that accountability and social organization depend on how... Read more
Key finding: Presents seven empirical studies demonstrating the universality of action-reaction relationships as fundamental structural features across cognitive, social, and natural systems. The research quantifies how relational... Read more
Key finding: Develops a methodological framework leveraging the action-reaction law to estimate parameters and states of flexible dynamical systems. By analyzing the system’s reaction signals in response to actuator-imposed actions, the... Read more