ABSTRACT
In contemporary philosophy of mind, vehicle externalism (also known as active externalism, architecturalism, or environmentalism) is, in simple terms, the claim that the structures and mechanisms that allow an individual to possess or undergo various mental states and processes are sometimes structures and mechanisms that exist beyond the head or the skin of that individual. Along with other forms of externalism, vehicle externalism stands in opposition to a long tradition of internalism, the claim that the mind (or all mental states) is contained within the skull. Clark and Chalmers (1998) and others see the roots of internalism in the philosophy of Descartes and claim that this Cartesian prejudice prevails in contemporary philosophy of mind.
