The historical dynamics of the development of the cognitive sciences in the United States and France is analysed so as to gain understanding of the way in which the scientific and intellectual landscape has changed over the last 50 years. While they have retained somewhat blurred outlines, the cognitive sciences have acquired stable institutional form, with two main orientations: these are the study of natural cognition by way of the neurosciences, and the study of artificial cognition via the information sciences and technologies. The structuring of these cognitive sciences has been accompanied by major reorganization, it has altered the balance of power between disciplines, and changed the way in which knowledge is produced. Computing tools have led to a reconfiguration of knowledge, know-how and practice, and a new mode of objectivity that has given rise to the creation of a new scientific department in CNRS, to new institutes, and to new disciplines such as social neurosciences and neuro-computing.
