Abstract

Much recent work elucidates different types of representational format, and ways that aspects of perception and cognition may be formatted. Our paper targets an underexplored topic: the format of motor representations, the psychological states that serve as the primary causal link between an agent’s immediate intention to act and their subsequent behaviour. In section 2, we situate motor representations within the context of processes of motor planning and motor control. In section 3, we discuss key differences between symbolic and analog representational format types. In section 4, we argue that there is evidence indicating that motor representations show a core marker of analog formatting. In section 5, we argue that motor representations show core markers of symbolic formatting. In section 6, we characterize motor representations as an interesting form of hybrid representation. In a slogan, motor representation is a symbolic scheme that utilizes analog representations as cognitive tools. We then highlight several open questions this characterization raises and note how it may impact a range of philosophical debates, such as those pertaining to the relationship between propositional knowledge and skilled action guidance, the interface problem, and the issue of how to draw boundaries between central cognition and the motoric.