INTERSECTING ‘NATURE’ AND ‘CULTURE’: HOW THE STUDY OF CULTURE COULD ENHANCE COGNITIVE SCIENCE PETER HANENBERG Preliminary version. Published in: Berning, Nora;Nünning, Ansgar; Schwanecke, Christine (eds.): Reframing Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies. Theorizing and Analyzing Conceptual Transfers. Trier WVT 2014, 185-202. Asking how the study of culture could enhance cognitive science is a radical question. It is radical in its attempt to reframe concepts in literary and cultural studies – and it is even more radical in suggesting that such an endeavor could enhance science. In fact, it is not just for the benefit of a ‘reframed’ way of studying literature and culture that the following suggestions should be read; they should also be read as attempts to bridge science and the humanities for mutual improvement of scope and meaning. The disconnectedness between science and humanities is one of the main challenges to sci- entific development and knowledge. As we have learned from the history of science (cf. Latour 1993), the division between nature and culture is historical and artificial. Intersecting nature and culture could allow for new insights that reestablish the rela- tionship between them. It is in the field of cognitive sciences and under the paradigm of culture that such an intersection can productively be developed. Culture continues the work of nature, leading to diversity and change. In arts and literature, cognition and culture meet in a way that allows one to recognize general principles via artful exploration and contemplation. That is why the study of culture does not only produce knowledge about culture itself but it also helps to develop a deeper understanding of cognition. 1. Why and How it Makes Sense to Study Culture and Cognition: Towards a Cognitive Culture System Culture is a multidimensional concept. Following Roland Posner’s proposal (1991, 2004), we can distinguish between three different dimensions of culture, namely, so- cial, material and mental. The social dimension refers to the uses of culture by individ- uals, society and institutions. The material dimension includes artistic works, architec- ture and literary and legal texts. The mental dimension, finally, has to do with mentali- ties, perceptions, norms and values. Of course, the three dimensions overlap at certain points (institutions comprehend values, texts express mentalities etc.), which leads to a specific density of cultural issues. In the history of cultural studies, questions regarding institutional dynamics and analysis of cultural artifacts have clearly been privileged over those pertaining to the mental dimension of culture. The sociology of culture has