4th National Conference on Cognitive Science, Humans and Robots Symposium: Common principles and fundamental differences, Hellenic Cognitive Science Society, Athens, 2013 1 Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence: Searching for the fundamental differences of meaning in the boundaries of metaphysics Alkis Gounaris National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Extended Synopsis 2 : While trying to detect common principles and fundamental differences between Human Cognition (HC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is often expedient to look back into the philosophical foundations to face questions that we tend to casually bypass. Such questions, mainly of an epistemological and ontological character, are related to the “nature” of knowledge and signification and more specifically to the way the world has -or can acquire- meaning for cognitive beings. The initial stages of such an investigation demonstrate the basic ontological differences between HC and AI and contribute to the review of the paradigm of computational theory, as well as to the credibility of alternative approaches on embodied cognition. In the present announcement, it will be claimed that through certain explanatory models we are allowed to have a realistic view of human cognition, whereas artificial intelligence is confined (at least up to the contemporary computational models) in an idealistic perspective. According to these two ontologically distinct positions, either the world has given characteristics in which “meanings” are included, irrespective of how they are imprinted, represented or signified by each and every cognitive being, or the cognitive being projects a world of its own, resulting in each reality of the world - consequently meaning as well- being more or less the reflection of internal mental processes or internal representations of the cognitive being. Between these two positions, that Varela, Thompson α Rosh[1] call the “chicken” position and the “egg” 1 Gounaris, Α. (2013). Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence: Searching for the fundamental differences of meaning in the boundaries of metaphysics. 4th National Conference on Cognitive Science, Humans and Robots Symposium: Common principles and fundamental differences, Hellenic Cognitive Science Society, Athens. Retrieved 14/01/2019 από https://alkisgounaris.gr/en/research/human-cognition-artificial-intelligence/ 2 Full text is available in Greek only (see p.5)