Table Of Contentthe oxford handbook of
P H I LO S O P H Y A N D
N E U RO S C I E N C E
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t h e o x f o r d h a n d b o o k o f
P H I LO S O P H Y A N D
N E U RO S C I E N C E
Edited by
JOHN BICKLE
1
2009
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Oxford handbook of philosophy and neuroscience /
edited by John Bickle.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-19-530478-7
1. Neurosciences—Philosophy. I. Bickle, John.
II. Title: Handbook of philosophy and neuroscience.
[DNLM: 1. Neurosciences. 2. Philosophy. WL 100 O982009]
QP356.O942009
612.8—dc22 2008028323
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Contents
Contributors, ix
Introduction, 3
John Bickle
Part I: Explanation, Reduction, and Methodology
in Neuroscientific Practice
1. Molecules, Systems, and Behavior: Another View
of Memory Consolidation, 13
William Bechtel
2. Biological Clocks: Explaining with Models of Mechanisms, 41
Sarah K. Robins and Carl F. Craver
3. Methodology and Reduction in the Behavioral Neurosciences:
Object Exploration as a Case Study, 68
Anthony Chemero and Charles Heyser
4. The Science of Research and the Search for Molecular Mechanisms
of Cognitive Functions, 91
Alcino J. Silva and John Bickle
Part II: Learning and Memory
5. The Lower Bounds of Cognition: What Do Spinal Cords Reveal? 129
Colin Allen, James W. Grau, and Mary W. Meagher
6. Lessons for Cognitive Science from Neurogenomics, 143
Alex Rosenberg
7. Learning, Neuroscience, and the Return of Behaviorism, 166
Peter Machamer
vi contents
Part III: Sensation and Perception
8. fMRI: A Modern Cerebrascope? The Case of Pain, 179
Valerie Gray Hardcastle and C. Matthew Stewart
9. The Embedded Neuron, the Enactive Field? 200
Mazviita Chirimuuta and Ian Gold
10. The Role of Neurobiology in Differentiating the Senses, 226
Brian L. Keeley
11. Enactivism’s Vision: Neurocognitive Basis
or Neurocognitively Baseless? 251
Charles Wallis and Wayne Wright
Part IV: Neurocomputation and Neuroanatomy
12. Space, Time, and Objects, 311
Rick Grush
13. Neurocomputational Models: Theory, Application,
Philosophical Consequences, 346
Chris Eliasmith
14. Neuroanatomy and Cosmology, 370
Christopher Cherniak
Part V: Neuroscience of Motivation, Decision Making,
and Neuroethics
15. The Emerging Theory of Motivation, 381
Anthony Landreth
16. Inference to the Best Decision, 419
Patricia Smith Churchland
17. Emergentism at the Crossroads of Philosophy, Neurotechnology, and
the Enhancement Debate, 431
Eric Racine and Judy Illes
18. What’s “Neu” in Neuroethics? 454
Adina L. Roskies
contents vii
Part VI: Neurophilosophy and Psychiatry
19. Confabulations about People and Their Limbs,
Present or Absent, 473
William Hirstein
20. Delusional Experience, 513
Jennifer Mundale and Shaun Gallagher
21. The Case for Animal Emotions: Modeling
Neuropsychiatric Disorders, 522
Kenneth Sufka, Morgan Weldon, and Colin Allen
Part VII: Neurophilosophy
22. Levels, Individual Variation, and Massive Multiple Realization
in Neurobiology, 539
Kenneth Aizawa and Carl Gillett
23. Neuro-Eudaimonics or Buddhists Lead Neuroscientists
to the Seat of Happiness, 582
Owen Flanagan
24. The Neurophilosophy of Subjectivity, 601
Pete Mandik
Index,619
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Contributors
Kenneth Aizawa is Charles T. Beaird Professor of Philosophy at Centenary
College of Louisiana. He is the author of The Systematicity Arguments and
coauthor, with Frederick Adams, of The Bounds of Cognition. He works primarily
in the philosophy of psychology.
Colin Allen is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science and Professor of
Cognitive Science at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he is also Adjunct
Professor of Philosophy and a member of IU’s Center for the Integrative Study
of Animal Behavior. He has written extensively on philosophical issues in
animal cognition and other issues at the intersection of philosophy of biology
and philosophy of mind. He is engaged in several projects in Digital Philosophy,
including directing the Indiana Philosophy Ontology project, and is serving as
associate editor of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
William Bechtel is Professor in the Department of Philosophy and the
interdisciplinary programs in Cognitive Science and Science Studies at the
University of California, San Diego. His research focuses on the nature of
mechanistic explanations and strategies for developing such explanations in the
life sciences, including cell and molecular biology, neuroscience, and cognitive
science. His recent books include Connectionism and the Mind: Parallel Processing,
Dynamics, and Evolution in Networks (with Adele Abrahamsen, 2002), Discovering
Cell Mechanisms: The Creation of Modern Cell Biology (2006), and Mental
Mechanisms: Philosophical Perspectives on Cognitive Neuroscience (2007). He is
also editor of the interdisciplinary journal Philosophical Psychology.
John Bickle is Professor at the University of Cincinnati, in the Department
of Philosophy and the Neuroscience Graduate Program. His research interests
include the philosophy of neuroscience, the nature of scientifi c reductionism, and
cellular and molecular mechanisms of cognition and consciousness. He is the
author of three books and more than 60 articles, book chapters, and encyclopedia
entries, in journals ranging from Philosophy of Science and Philosophy and
Phenomenological Research to Journal of Computational Neuroscience and Journal
of Physiology (Paris).
Anthony Chemero is Associate Professor in the Scientifi c and Philosophical
Studies of Mind Program and the Psychology Department at Franklin and
Marshall College. He is a cognitive scientist and philosopher of science whose
