Mind doesn't literally extend--but it feels like it does, and that makes a difference.

What is it about?

The title, of course, is a pun: I argue that the primary channel of "extended mind" is "feeling extended" in the dual sense of "extended/shared affect, " and that (body-becoming-)mind does indeed extend when you FEEL like it does.

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Why is it important?

The Extended Mind Thesis (EMT) has been trapped in binary oppositions for too long, because, I argue, it wants to make the extension of mind a purely materialist event--and to that end seeks to exclude qualia from the realm of extended mind, because qualia are just the FEELING of extension. I draw on philosophical traditions long ignored by externalists, and the social neuroscience of empathy and the collectivization of memory through ritual, to show that qualitative connections are events.

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