Skip to main content
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Neuroscience pp 2813–2820Cite as

Neurophilosophy

  • Reference work entry

  • 481 Accesses

Neurophilosophy is an emerging field at the interface between neuroscience and philosophy. It encompasses, first, methodological, conceptual, anthropological, and ethical questions that are of relevance to neuro- and cognitive science. Second, neurophilosophy uses results from these sciences in order to shed light on related philosophical problems.

The Term “Neurophilosophy”

The term became popular after Patricia Churchland [1] used it as a title for a book and has since then received increasing attention, both in scientific literature and in academic teaching [2]. Still, “neurophilosophy” is not yet a received term for an established branch in academic philosophy like “philosophy of science” or “philosophy of history” with their own journals, academic programs, scientific societies, etc.

Nevertheless, the close connection to empirical science sets neurophilosophy apart from its predecessors, particularly from traditional philosophy of mind, although there is a significant overlap...

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_3934
  • Chapter length: 8 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   2,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-540-29678-2
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Hardcover Book
USD   2,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Churchland PS (1986) Neurophilosophy. Cambridge MA

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bickle J, Mandik P (2002) The philosophy of neuroscience. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2002 edn) URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2002/entries/neuroscience/>

  3. Dennett DC (1991) Consciousness explained. Boston

    Google Scholar 

  4. Jackson F (1982) Epiphenomenal qualia. Philos Q 32:127–136

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  5. Robinson WS (1982) Causation, sensations and knowledge. Mind 41:524–540

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  6. Chalmers DJ (1996) The conscious mind. Oxford, New York

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ryle G (1949) The concept of mind. London

    Google Scholar 

  8. Pauen M (2000) Painless pain. Am Philos Q 37:51–64

    Google Scholar 

  9. Rorty R (1970/71) In defense of eliminative materialism. Rev Metaphys 24:112–121

    Google Scholar 

  10. Churchland PM (1979) Scientific realism and the plasticity of mind. Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  11. Feigl H (1958) The ‘Mental’ and the ‘Physical’. Minnesota Studies Philos Sci 2:370–497

    Google Scholar 

  12. Place UT (1956) Is consciousness a brain process? Br J Psychol 47:44–50

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Pauen M (2003) Is type identity incompatible with multiple realization? Grazer Philosophische Studien 65

    Google Scholar 

  14. Davidson D (1970) Mental events. In: Davidson D (ed) Essays on actions and events. Oxford, pp 207–224

    Google Scholar 

  15. Lewis D (1980) Psychophysical and theoretical identifications. In: Block N (ed) Readings in philosophy of psychology, vol. I. London, pp 207–215

    Google Scholar 

  16. Block N (1980) Troubles with functionalism. In: Block N (ed) Readings in philosophy of psychology, vol. I. London, pp 268–305

    Google Scholar 

  17. Nagel T (1974) What Is It Like to Be a Bat? Philos Rev 83:435–450

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  18. Levine J (1983) Materialism and qualia. Pacific Philos Q 64:354–361

    Google Scholar 

  19. Dennett DC (1993) Quining qualia. In: Goldman AI (ed) Readings in philosophy and cognitive science. Cambridge MA, pp 381–414

    Google Scholar 

  20. Hardin CL (1990) Color and illusion. In: Lycan WG (ed) Mind and cognition. Oxford, pp 555–566

    Google Scholar 

  21. Fodor JA (1975) The language of thought. New York

    Google Scholar 

  22. Tye M (1991) The imagery debate. Cambridge MA

    Google Scholar 

  23. Edelman GM (1992) Bright air, Brilliant fire. New York

    Google Scholar 

  24. Rumelhart DE, McClelland JL (1986) Parallel distributed processing. Cambridge MA

    Google Scholar 

  25. Johnson-Laird, PN (1983) Mental models. Cambridge MA

    Google Scholar 

  26. Strawson G (1997) The self. JCS 4:405–428

    Google Scholar 

  27. Metzinger T (2003) Being no one. Cambridge MA

    Google Scholar 

  28. Frankfurt HG (1971) Freedom of the will and the concept of a person. J Philos 68:5–20

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  29. Libet B (1985) Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action. Behav Brain Sci 8:529–539

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  30. Damasio AR (1994) Descartes’ error. New York

    Google Scholar 

  31. Butcher J (2003) Cognitive enhancement raises ethical concerns. Lancet 362:132–133

    PubMed  CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  32. Popper KR, Eccles JC (1977) The self and its brain. New York

    Google Scholar 

  33. Strawson G (1989) Consciousness, free will, and the unimportance of determinism. Inquiry 32:3–27

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  34. Thomas H. Huxley (1904) On the Hypothesis that Animals are Automata. In: ders., Collected Essays Bd. I. London: Macmillan, p. 199–250

    Google Scholar 

  35. Benjamin Libet (1994) A testable field theory of mind-brain interaction. Journal of consciousness studies 1:119–126

    Google Scholar 

  36. Churchland, Patricia smith (1996) The Hornswoggle Problem. Journal of Consciousness Studies 3:S402–405

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Philosophie, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, Berlin

    Michael Pauen

Authors
  1. Michael Pauen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Marc D. Binder

  2. Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Graduate School of Medicine University of Tokyo Hongo, Bunkyo‐ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Nobutaka Hirokawa

  3. Göttingen, Germany

    Uwe Windhorst

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag GmbH Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Pauen, M. (2009). Neurophilosophy. In: Binder, M.D., Hirokawa, N., Windhorst, U. (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_3934

Download citation