On the Types of Artifacts and Their Agentive Implications

This chapter proposes a classification of artifacts based on an agentive approach—that is, on the actions performed by human agents rather than on the artifacts' functions or features. The agentive approach adheres to the thesis that cognition is not reduced to brain functions but is coextensive with the capacity to act. If there is action, then there is cognition, and therefore, meaning emerges from an agent's relationship with its environment (enaction). It is argued that the notion of Enhanced Agency—the incorporation of artifacts to enhance the performance of actions—is a distinctive feature of the human species, and that the ability to design artifacts is distinct from the creation of natural objects by other animals. Therefore, the definition of artifact is limited to an object created by human beings for a specific purpose. Consequently, after critically assessing other proposals, the classification of artifacts is addressed under three criteria: according to the type of incorporation; according to the type of engagement; and according to the type of action performed by the agents. This typology allows us to resolve ambivalent categories such as cognitive/pragmatic and to be consistent with the material and embodied commitment of cognition, which constitutes a contribution to the understanding of the essentially enhanced nature of human agency.