Philosophy and the Neurosciences A Reader

by Bechtel, William; Mandik, Pete; Mundale, Jennifer; Stufflebeam, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780631210450
• ISBN10: 0631210458
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-10-08
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Philosophy and the Neurosciences is the first systematic integration of philosophy of mind and philosophy of science with neuroscience research. As philosophers have come to focus more and more on the relationship between mind and brain, they have had to take greater account of theory and research in the neurosciences. Likewise, as neuroscientists have learned more about cognitive structures and functions, their investigations have expanded and merged with traditional questions from the philosophy of mind.By introducing key themes in philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and the fundamental concepts of neuroscience, this text provides philosophers with the necessary background to engage the neurosciences and offers neuroscientists an introduction to the relevant tools of philosophical analysis. Study questions, figures, and references to further reading are provided in each chapter to enhance the reader's understanding of how philosophy and the neurosciences are related in their exploration of the human mind.

Author Biography

William Bechtel is Professor and Chair of Philosophy and Director of the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology Program at Washington University in St. Louis. He is editor of the international journal Philosophical Psychology and his publications include A Companion to Cognitive Science (co-edited, Blackwell, 1998), Connectionism and the Mind (co-authored, second edition, Blackwell, 2002) and Discovering Complexity (1993).

Pete Mandik is Assistant Professor and Associate Director fo the Cognitive Science Laboratory at William Patterson University of New Jersey

Jennifer Mundale is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Central Florida University.

Robert S. Stufflebeam is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Orleans.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	viii
List of Authors	xii
Part I Neurophilosophical Foundations
Introduction	3	(1)
Pete Mandik
Philosophy Meets the Neurosciences	4	(19)
William Bechtel
Pete Mandik
Jennifer Mundale
Brain Metaphor and Brain Theory	23	(14)
John G. Daugman
Neuroanatomical Foundations of Cognition: Connecting the Neuronal Level with the Study of Higher Brain Areas	37	(18)
Jennifer Mundale
Epistemic Issues in Procuring Evidence about the Brain: The Importance of Research Instruments and Techniques	55	(32)
William Bechtel
Robert S. Stufflebeam
Questions for Further Study and Reflection	82	(3)
Part II Language
Introduction	85	(2)
William Bechtel
Remarks on the Seat of the Faculty of Articulate Language, Followed by an Observation of Aphemia	87	(13)
Paul Broca
Recent Works on Aphasia	100	(12)
Carl Wernicke
The Processing of Single Words Studied with Positron Emission Tomography	112	(22)
Steven E. Petersen
Julie A. Fiez
Modularity, Domain Specificity and the Development of Language	134	(18)
Elizabeth Bates
Linking Cognition and Brain: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Language	152	(27)
William Bechtel
Questions for Further Study and Reflection	172	(5)
Part III Vision
Introduction	177	(2)
William Bechtel
Brain Mechanisms of Vision	179	(20)
David H. Hubel
Torsten N. Wiesel
Object Vision and Spatial Vision: Two Cortical Pathways	199	(10)
Mortimer Mishkin
Leslie G. Ungerleider
Kathleen A. Macko
Neural Mechanisms of Form and Motion Processing in the Primate Visual System	209	(16)
David C. Van Essen
Jack L. Gallant
Decomposing and Localizing Vision: An Exemplar for Cognitive Neuroscience	225	(29)
William Bechtel
Questions for Further Study and Reflection	250	(3)
Part IV Consciousness
Introduction	253	(1)
Pete Mandik
Consciousness and Neuroscience	254	(24)
Francis Crick
Christof Koch
Functionalism, Dualism, and the Neurocorrelates of Consciousness	278	(17)
Jesse Prinz
The Nature of Pain	295	(17)
Valerie Hardcastle
Points of View from the Brain's Eye View: Subjectivity and Neural Representation	312	(20)
Pete Mandik
Questions for Further Study and Reflection	328	(3)
Part V Representation
Introduction	331	(1)
Pete Mandik
Representations: From Neural Systems to Cognitive Systems	332	(17)
William Bechtel
The Architecture of Representation	349	(20)
Rick Grush
Of Sensory Systems and the ``Aboutness'' of Mental States	369	(26)
Kathleen Akins
Brain Matters: A Case Against Representations in the Brain	395	(24)
Robert S. Stufflebeam
Questions for Further Study and Reflection	414	(3)
Part VI Reduction
Introduction	417	(2)
Jennifer Mundale
Intertheoretic Reduction: A Neuroscientist's Field Guide	419	(12)
Paul M. Churchland
Patricia S. Churchland
Explanatory Pluralism and the Co-evolution of Theories of Science	431	(26)
Robert N. McCauley
McCauley's Demand for a Co-level Competitor	457	(10)
Paul M. Churchland
Patricia S. Churchland
Questions for Further Study and Reflection	466	(1)
Author Index	467	(10)
Subject Index	477