THE EXTENDED MIND THESIS IS ABOUT DEMARCATION AND USE OF WORDS

The "extended mind thesis" sounds like a substantive thesis, the truth of which we should investigate. But actually the thesis a) turns about to be just a statement on where the demarcations for the "mental" are to be set (internal, external,...), i.e. it is about the "mark of the mental": and b) the choice about the mark of the mental is a verbal choice, not a matter of scientific discovery. So, the "extended mind thesis" is a remark on how its supporters or opponents want to use the word 'mind', not a thesis of cognitive science or philosophy. The upshot of the extended mind discussion should not be to draw the line further out, but to drop the demarcation project.