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Psychoneural Reduction: The New Wave
One of the central problems in the philosophy of psychology is an updated version of the old mind-body how levels of theories in the behavioral and brain sciences relate to one another. Many contemporary philosophers of mind believe that cognitive-psychological theories are not reducible to neurological theories. However, this antireductionism has not spawned a revival of dualism. Instead, most nonreductive physicalists prefer the idea of a one-way dependence of the mental on the physical.
In Psychoneural Reduction , John Bickle presents a new type of reductionism, one that is stronger than one-way dependency yet sidesteps the arguments that sank classical reductionism. Although he makes some concessions to classical antireductionism, he argues for a relationship between psychology and neurobiology that shares some of the key aims, features, and consequences of classical reductionism. Parts of Bickle's "new wave" reductionism have emerged piecemeal over the past two decades; this is his first comprehensive statement and defense of it to appear.
In Psychoneural Reduction , John Bickle presents a new type of reductionism, one that is stronger than one-way dependency yet sidesteps the arguments that sank classical reductionism. Although he makes some concessions to classical antireductionism, he argues for a relationship between psychology and neurobiology that shares some of the key aims, features, and consequences of classical reductionism. Parts of Bickle's "new wave" reductionism have emerged piecemeal over the past two decades; this is his first comprehensive statement and defense of it to appear.
- GenresPhilosophy
372 pages, Hardcover
First published March 20, 1998
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December 19, 2011
John Bickle presents—to borrow his language—the "new wave" of psychoneural reductionism, concerning himself with some of the most exciting advances in applied neuroscience of the past few decades but also focused on the philosophy of the mind that must come with the biological basis of such science. As a philosopher, Bickle is able to take cognitive-psychological theories and find their analogs in how neuroscientists are understanding the most basal constructs of mind-body synergy.
This book is one man's views and educated opinion and not meant to be a survey or overview, yet it is very insightful and the utility it brings to the scientists trying to merge together the various ways we have of considering the structures of cognition makes it a good place to step off into different fields. That said, the book is already over a decade old, so a lot of recent research is neither covered nor in all cases, predicted, by Dr. Bickle. Also, it could be longer: Bickle considers concepts that really require more complex explanation than he provides. Still, as we await someone writing something more comprehensive, this will be the primary book on its subject.
This book is one man's views and educated opinion and not meant to be a survey or overview, yet it is very insightful and the utility it brings to the scientists trying to merge together the various ways we have of considering the structures of cognition makes it a good place to step off into different fields. That said, the book is already over a decade old, so a lot of recent research is neither covered nor in all cases, predicted, by Dr. Bickle. Also, it could be longer: Bickle considers concepts that really require more complex explanation than he provides. Still, as we await someone writing something more comprehensive, this will be the primary book on its subject.
Displaying 1 of 1 review