1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910424640103321

Autore

Pecere Paolo

Titolo

Soul, mind and brain from Descartes to cognitive science : a critical history / / Paolo Pecere

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham, Switzerland : , : Springer, , [2020]

©2020

ISBN

3-030-51463-3

Edizione

[1st ed. 2020.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XVII, 142 p. 4 illus.)

Disciplina

128.2

Soggetti

Philosophy of mind

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction: Reconsidering the Cartesian Turn -- 1. Descartes’ double legacy -- 2. Metaphysics, mechanism and the conscious mind -- 3. Matter, active powers and the limits of knowledge -- 4. Physiology of mind and autonomy of reason: a Kantian legacy -- 5. Consciousness and the unconscious: between physiology and psychology -- 6. Twin worlds: materialism, panpsychism and the problem with sensation -- 7. “Philosophy of mind” and neuroscience: evidence, hypothesis, critique. .

Sommario/riassunto

This interdisciplinary book ties the historical work of Descartes to his successors through current research and critical overviews on the neuroscience of consciousness, the brain, and cognition. This text is the first historical survey to focus on the cohesions and discontinuities between historical and contemporary thinkers working in philosophy, physiology, psychology, and neuroscience. The book introduces and analyzes early discussions of consciousness, such as: metaphysical alternatives to scientific explanations of consciousness and its connection to brain activity; claims about the possibilities and limits of neuroscientific accounts of consciousness and cognition; and the proposition of a “non-reductive naturalism” concerning phenomenal consciousness and rationality. The author assesses the contributions of early philosophers and scientists on brain, consciousness and cognition, among them: Descartes, Malebranche, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Newton, Haller, Kant, Fechner, Helmholtz and du Bois-Reymond. The work of these pioneers is related to that of modern researchers in



physiology, psychology, neuroscience and philosophy of mind, including: Freud, Hilary Putnam, Herbert Feigl, Gerald Edelman, Jean-Pierre Changeux, Daniel Dennett and David Chalmers, amongst others. This text appeals to researchers and advanced students in the field.