E-Book Overview
Five chapters in the book's first part, "Some Elementary Neuroscience," sketch the history of the science of nervous systems and provide a general introduction to neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, and neuropsychology. In the second part, "Recent Developments in the Philosophy of Science," chapters place the mind-body problem within the wider context of the philosophy of science. Drawing on recent research in this area, a general account of intertheoretic reduction is explained, arguments for a reductionist strategy are developed, and traditional objections from dualists and other anti reductionists are answered in novel ways. The third part, "A Neurophilosophical Perspective," concludes the book with a presentation and discussion of some of the most promising theoretical developments currently under exploration in functional neurobiology and in the connectionist models within artificial intelligence research.Patricia Churchland is Professor of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego. A Bradford Book.
E-Book Content
Preface
In the mid -seventies I discovered that my patience with most main -
stream philosophy had run out . What had instead begun to seem promising was the new wave in philosophical method , which ceased to pander to " ordinary language" and which began in earnest to reverse the antiscientific bias typical of " linguistic analysis." Even here I had a major misgiving , however , because the sciences em -
braced by the new wave as relevant to understanding the nature of the mind
did
not
include
neuroscience
. Indeed
, the best
of what
there
was had espoused a novel and sophisticated form of dualism - theory
dualism - that dismissed neuroscience as largely irrelevant to theories in psychology and philosophy . Since I was a materialist and hence
believed
that
the
mind
is the
brain
, it seemed
obvious
that
a
wider understanding of neuroscience could not fail to be useful if I wanted
to know
how
we
see , how
we think
and
reason
and
decide
. I
therefore decided to find out in detail whether what was already known in neuroscience was of any use in understanding cognitive functions . Beginning with ..a cautious paddling at the available edges of neuroscience , I quickly found myself venturing
further and further
from shore, and finally setting tull sail. In the midst of the unencumbered delights of discovering what was known about nervous systems and how neurobiologists got that knowledge , questions of a distinctly philosophical nature continued to make demanding background noises: Is it possible that we could have one grand , unified theory of the mind -brain ? What would such a theory look like ? Is a reductionist strategy reasonable or not ? As a philosopher , I had found myself driven to the neurosciences, but having immersed myself in the neurosciences, I found I could not leave the philosophy alone either . For those far-reaching, wide embracing questions asked about neuroscientific research I well recognized to be philosophical questions- moreover , questions where philosophers of science and historians of science have had useful things to say. It is now evident that where one discipline ends and the other begins no longer matters, for it is in the nature of the case that
x
Preface
the boundaries are ill defined . This book is thus the result of what I came to regard as neurophilosophicalinquiries. Given the range of topics I needed to know about, I was through out the project necessarily dependent on the willingness of neuroscientists to explain their research