Neurophilosophy

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Science used to be philosophy and may be again. What we now think of as science grew largely out of the work of “natural philosophers” who used empirical (evidence-based) measures to test philosophical theories. Today, in the neurosciences, new techniques open the way to new evidence concerning fundamental philosophical questions of the nature and behavior of our minds. In this course, we will read into the contemporary literature, particularly the literature of cognitive neuroscience, in which empirical brain-based methods have been used as tools for asking philosophical questions. We will consider the topics of consciousness, morality, love, human-ness, individual differences and equality, and conceptions of self and others, as well as the natures of perception, thought, belief, knowledge, and memory. We will directly consider the capacities and limitations of neuroscientific methods for philosophical inquiry, and discuss emerging and future directions in this area.