Using the method of phenomenological reduction in the paradigm of enaction

This article examines the way in which Varela employs the method of phenomenological reduction in cognitive science, and proposes an evaluation. Particular attention is paid to the question of the epokhe or phenomenological reduc­tion, and the requirement of “mutual constraints” between “weak naturalization” and phenomenology which underlies the project of “neurophenomenology”. This critical examination leads to the hypothesis that, in spite of the rigour of Varela’s approach, there is a point at which the phenomenological posture and the work of scientific naturalization are finally mutually exclusive – this of course does not mean that the style of collaboration which is sketched out cannot be fruitful.