Cognition in APS
Within APS, cognition is understood as an organisational development emerging from progressively integrated forms of viability-oriented activity.
The pathway can be summarised as:
viability
↓
agency
↓
evaluation
↓
semiosis
↓
meaning
↓
information
↓
representation
↓
cognition
↓
intelligence
↓
consciousness
This sequence does not describe separate substances, modules, or explanatory layers. Instead, it illustrates how increasingly sophisticated forms of organisation emerge from the ongoing regulation of viability.
APS therefore treats:
- cognition as emerging from viability-oriented organisation;
- representation as downstream rather than foundational;
- intelligence as specialised rather than universal;
- consciousness as one possible development within highly integrated cognition.
Each stage introduces additional capacities for evaluating conditions, coordinating activity, and sustaining viability across changing circumstances.