Neuroscience, Neurophilosophy and Pragmatism: Brains at Work with the World (New Directions in Philosophy and Cognitive Science)

Description

Recent work in the neurosciences and neurophilosophy has found resources in the philosophical tradition of pragmatism. This volume is the first to bring together active neuroscientists, neurophilosophers, and scholars to consider the prospects of a neuroscientifically-informed pragmatism and a pragmatically-informed neuroscience on issues ranging from the nature of mental life to the implications of neuroscience for education and ethics. For the past 20 years, many people, from journalists to presidents, have advocated the importance of studying the brain for understanding a host of medical phenomena and disabilities. This enthusiasm has only recently been met with skepticism. This collection, however, takes a critical yet constructive attitude toward the import of the neurosciences. The aim is not only to provide a philosophical framework based in the pragmatism out of which the neurosciences initially grew, but also to modify and advance that framework in light of the fruits -as well as the limitations - of the neurosciences.