Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262530743
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 204
Book Description
In "Matter and Consciousness," Paul Churchland clearly presents the advantages and disadvantages of such difficult issues in philosophy of mind as behaviorism, reductive materialism, functionalism, and eliminative materialism. This new edition incorporates the striking developments that have taken place in neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence and notes their expanding relevance to philosophical issues. Churchland organizes and clarifies the new theoretical and experimental results of the natural sciences for a wider philosophical audience, observing that this research bears directly on questions concerning the basic elements of cognitive activity and their implementation in real physical systems. (How is it, he asks, that living creatures perform some cognitive tasks so swiftly and easily, where computers do them only badly or not at all?) Most significant for philosophy, Churchland asserts, is the support these results tend to give to the reductive and the eliminative versions of materialism. "A Bradford Book"
Matter and Consciousness
Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262530743
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 204
Book Description
In "Matter and Consciousness," Paul Churchland clearly presents the advantages and disadvantages of such difficult issues in philosophy of mind as behaviorism, reductive materialism, functionalism, and eliminative materialism. This new edition incorporates the striking developments that have taken place in neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence and notes their expanding relevance to philosophical issues. Churchland organizes and clarifies the new theoretical and experimental results of the natural sciences for a wider philosophical audience, observing that this research bears directly on questions concerning the basic elements of cognitive activity and their implementation in real physical systems. (How is it, he asks, that living creatures perform some cognitive tasks so swiftly and easily, where computers do them only badly or not at all?) Most significant for philosophy, Churchland asserts, is the support these results tend to give to the reductive and the eliminative versions of materialism. "A Bradford Book"
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262530743
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 204
Book Description
In "Matter and Consciousness," Paul Churchland clearly presents the advantages and disadvantages of such difficult issues in philosophy of mind as behaviorism, reductive materialism, functionalism, and eliminative materialism. This new edition incorporates the striking developments that have taken place in neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence and notes their expanding relevance to philosophical issues. Churchland organizes and clarifies the new theoretical and experimental results of the natural sciences for a wider philosophical audience, observing that this research bears directly on questions concerning the basic elements of cognitive activity and their implementation in real physical systems. (How is it, he asks, that living creatures perform some cognitive tasks so swiftly and easily, where computers do them only badly or not at all?) Most significant for philosophy, Churchland asserts, is the support these results tend to give to the reductive and the eliminative versions of materialism. "A Bradford Book"
A Neurocomputational Perspective
Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262531061
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
"A Bradford book."Includes index. Bibliography: p. [305]-313.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262531061
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
"A Bradford book."Includes index. Bibliography: p. [305]-313.
The Engine of Reason, the Seat of the Soul
Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262531429
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
This work summarizes results from neuroscience and recent work with artificial neural networks that together suggest a unified set of answers to questions about how the brain actually works; how it sustains a thinking, feeling, dreaming self; and how it sustains a self-conscious person.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262531429
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
This work summarizes results from neuroscience and recent work with artificial neural networks that together suggest a unified set of answers to questions about how the brain actually works; how it sustains a thinking, feeling, dreaming self; and how it sustains a self-conscious person.
Paul Churchland
Author: Brian L. Keeley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521830119
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
Offers an introduction to Churchland's work, alongside a critique of his most famous philosophical positions.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521830119
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
Offers an introduction to Churchland's work, alongside a critique of his most famous philosophical positions.
Images of Science
Author: Bas C. Van Fraassen
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226106543
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
"Churchland and Hooker have collected ten papers by prominent philosophers of science which challenge van Fraassen's thesis from a variety of realist perspectives. Together with van Fraassen's extensive reply . . . these articles provide a comprehensive picture of the current debate in philosophy of science between realists and anti-realists."—Jeffrey Bub and David MacCallum, Foundations of Physics Letters
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226106543
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
"Churchland and Hooker have collected ten papers by prominent philosophers of science which challenge van Fraassen's thesis from a variety of realist perspectives. Together with van Fraassen's extensive reply . . . these articles provide a comprehensive picture of the current debate in philosophy of science between realists and anti-realists."—Jeffrey Bub and David MacCallum, Foundations of Physics Letters
Braintrust
Author: Patricia S. Churchland
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691180970
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 296
Book Description
What is morality? Where does it come from? And why do most of us heed its call most of the time? In Braintrust, neurophilosophy pioneer Patricia Churchland argues that morality originates in the biology of the brain. She describes the "neurobiological platform of bonding" that, modified by evolutionary pressures and cultural values, has led to human styles of moral behavior. The result is a provocative genealogy of morals that asks us to reevaluate the priority given to religion, absolute rules, and pure reason in accounting for the basis of morality. Moral values, Churchland argues, are rooted in a behavior common to all mammals--the caring for offspring. The evolved structure, processes, and chemistry of the brain incline humans to strive not only for self-preservation but for the well-being of allied selves--first offspring, then mates, kin, and so on, in wider and wider "caring" circles. Separation and exclusion cause pain, and the company of loved ones causes pleasure; responding to feelings of social pain and pleasure, brains adjust their circuitry to local customs. In this way, caring is apportioned, conscience molded, and moral intuitions instilled. A key part of the story is oxytocin, an ancient body-and-brain molecule that, by decreasing the stress response, allows humans to develop the trust in one another necessary for the development of close-knit ties, social institutions, and morality. A major new account of what really makes us moral, Braintrust challenges us to reconsider the origins of some of our most cherished values.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691180970
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 296
Book Description
What is morality? Where does it come from? And why do most of us heed its call most of the time? In Braintrust, neurophilosophy pioneer Patricia Churchland argues that morality originates in the biology of the brain. She describes the "neurobiological platform of bonding" that, modified by evolutionary pressures and cultural values, has led to human styles of moral behavior. The result is a provocative genealogy of morals that asks us to reevaluate the priority given to religion, absolute rules, and pure reason in accounting for the basis of morality. Moral values, Churchland argues, are rooted in a behavior common to all mammals--the caring for offspring. The evolved structure, processes, and chemistry of the brain incline humans to strive not only for self-preservation but for the well-being of allied selves--first offspring, then mates, kin, and so on, in wider and wider "caring" circles. Separation and exclusion cause pain, and the company of loved ones causes pleasure; responding to feelings of social pain and pleasure, brains adjust their circuitry to local customs. In this way, caring is apportioned, conscience molded, and moral intuitions instilled. A key part of the story is oxytocin, an ancient body-and-brain molecule that, by decreasing the stress response, allows humans to develop the trust in one another necessary for the development of close-knit ties, social institutions, and morality. A major new account of what really makes us moral, Braintrust challenges us to reconsider the origins of some of our most cherished values.
Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of Mind
Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521338271
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 172
Book Description
A study in the philosophy of science, proposing a strong form of the doctrine of scientific realism' and developing its implications for issues in the philosophy of mind.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521338271
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 172
Book Description
A study in the philosophy of science, proposing a strong form of the doctrine of scientific realism' and developing its implications for issues in the philosophy of mind.
Brain-Wise
Author: Patricia S. Churchland
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262293064
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 491
Book Description
Progress in the neurosciences is profoundly changing our conception of ourselves. Contrary to time-honored intuition, the mind turns out to be a complex of brain functions. And contrary to the wishful thinking of some philosophers, there is no stemming the revolutionary impact that brain research will have on our understanding of how the mind works. Brain-Wise is the sequel to Patricia Smith Churchland's Neurophilosophy, the book that launched a subfield. In a clear, conversational manner, this book examines old questions about the nature of the mind within the new framework of the brain sciences. What, it asks, is the neurobiological basis of consciousness, the self, and free choice? How does the brain learn about the external world and about its own introspective world? What can neurophilosophy tell us about the basis and significance of religious and moral experiences? Drawing on results from research at the neuronal, neurochemical, system, and whole-brain levels, the book gives an up-to-date perspective on the state of neurophilosophy—what we know, what we do not know, and where things may go from here.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262293064
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 491
Book Description
Progress in the neurosciences is profoundly changing our conception of ourselves. Contrary to time-honored intuition, the mind turns out to be a complex of brain functions. And contrary to the wishful thinking of some philosophers, there is no stemming the revolutionary impact that brain research will have on our understanding of how the mind works. Brain-Wise is the sequel to Patricia Smith Churchland's Neurophilosophy, the book that launched a subfield. In a clear, conversational manner, this book examines old questions about the nature of the mind within the new framework of the brain sciences. What, it asks, is the neurobiological basis of consciousness, the self, and free choice? How does the brain learn about the external world and about its own introspective world? What can neurophilosophy tell us about the basis and significance of religious and moral experiences? Drawing on results from research at the neuronal, neurochemical, system, and whole-brain levels, the book gives an up-to-date perspective on the state of neurophilosophy—what we know, what we do not know, and where things may go from here.
Neurophilosophy
Author: Patricia Smith Churchland
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262530859
Category : Brain
Languages : en
Pages : 566
Book Description
"A Bradford book." Bibliography: p. [491]-523. Includes index.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262530859
Category : Brain
Languages : en
Pages : 566
Book Description
"A Bradford book." Bibliography: p. [491]-523. Includes index.
The Seat of the Soul
Author: Gary Zukav
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 147675540X
Category : New Age movement
Languages : en
Pages : 384
Book Description
Explores a new phase of human evolution that reflects a growing understanding about authentic, spiritual power based on cooperative beliefs and a reverence for life.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 147675540X
Category : New Age movement
Languages : en
Pages : 384
Book Description
Explores a new phase of human evolution that reflects a growing understanding about authentic, spiritual power based on cooperative beliefs and a reverence for life.