Pragmatist Neurophilosophy: American Philosophy and the Brain

Description

Pragmatist Neurophilosophy:American Philosophy and the Brain explains why the broad tradition of pragmatism is needed now more than ever. Bringing pragmatist philosophers together with cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists, this volume explores topics of urgent interest across neuroscience and philosophy from the perspective of pragmatism. Discussing how Charles Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George Mead benefited from their laboratory-knowledge, contributors treat America’s first-generation pragmatists as America’s first cognitive scientists. They explain why scientists today should participate in pragmatic judgments, just as the classical pragmatists did, and how current scientists can benefit from their earlier philosophical explorations across the same territory. Looking at recent neuroscientific discoveries in relation to classical pragmatists, they explore emerging pragmatic views supported directly from the behavioral and brain sciences and describe how “neuropragmatism” engages larger cultural questions by adequately dealing with meaningful values and ethical ideals. Pragmatist Neurophilosophy is an important contribution to scholars of both pragmatism and neuroscience and a timely reminder that America’s first generation of pragmatists did not stumble onto its principles, but designed them in light of biology’s new discoveries. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents List of Contributors 1 Introduction I II III Part 1: Historical Considerations 2 Peirce on Neuronal Synchronicity and Spontaneous Introduction Experience, habit formation, and Hebb’s rule Coupled oscillation in simple and complex systems Conclusion Notes References 3 The Legacy of William James: Lessons for Today’s Twenty-first Century Neuroscience Introduction Breath: The background neurophysiology Complementarities and coordination dynamics Polarities and reductionism Dynamics, evolution, whole-body organisms, and experience: Concluding reflections Notes References 4 Dewey, Naturalism, and Neuroaesthetics Introduction Non-reductive Columbia naturalism The relationship between art and science in Dewey’s pragmatic naturalism The problems and prospects of neuroaesthetics Conclusion Notes References Part 2: Reconstructing Neuroscience and Philosophy 5 Descendants of Pragmatism: Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Neopragmatism, Neurophilosophy, and Neuropragmatism On experience: From Descartes to Dewey Experience in neopragmatism and neurophilosophy The projects of reconciliation and reconstruction Reconciliation in neopragmatism and neurophilosophy Neuropragmatism and reconstruction: Moving forward A brief example of reconstruction: What to do with the neuroenthusiasm of Eagleman Notes References 6 Neuropragmatic Reconstruction: A Case from Neuroeconomics Primary and secondary experience Oxytocin and its effects Neuropragmatic reconstruction Conclusion Notes References 7 The Most Important Thing Neuropragmatism Can Do: Providing an Alternative to “Cognitive” Neuroscience The long-known problem Ways of speaking about the brain Connecting with pragmatism Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes References Part 3: Cognition, Inquiry, and Belief in the Brain and Beyond 8 How Inquiry and Method Shape Brain Science: Pragmatism, Embodiment, and Cognitive Neuroscience Pragmatism’s sharp elbows Changing minds: “Functionalism” from cheek by jowl to computer software Imagination measured and the return of the absent body Neural maps and a pragmatist theory of neural computation Neuropragmatism as an embodied philosophy of cognitive science Conclusion Notes References 9 Extended Mind and Representation Pragmatist psychology and cognitive externalism Social and cultural externalism Representational externalism, extended computation Notes References 10 The Self as an Evolved Organism that Lives in a Pragmatically Defined World Introduction Organic life Selfhood Conclusion Notes References 11 Is Experience Subjective or Objective, or Both, or Neither? Notes References Index