Abstract
Modern science has undermined belief in countless imaginary causalities. What is the nature of the relation between mind and brain? Philosophers have debated the issue for millennia, but it is only in the last twenty years that empirical evidence has begun to uncover some of the secrets of this ancient riddle. This lecture explores the possiblity that advances in neuroscience will undermine and subvert our intuitive, mentalist understanding of the mind-body relationship. Recent findings in neuroscience seem to support the notions that (i) mental events are a subclass of neurophysiological events, and (ii) they are devoid of causal efficacy upon the workings of the brain. If physicalism is true then the belief in the causal potency of conscious thoughts and free will are bound to join company with countless other imaginary causalities exploded by the progress of science.
Key words:
physicalism; mind-body relationship; mind-brain relationship; mental events.
Resumo
A ciência moderna tem minado a crença em inúmeras causalidades imaginárias. Qual é a natureza da relação entre mente e cérebro? Filósofos têm debatido a questão por milênios, mas apenas nos últimos 20 anos a evidência empírica começou a descobrir alguns dos segredos deste antigo enigma. Esta palestra explora a possibilidade de que os avanços na neurociência vão corroer e subverter a nossa compreensão intuitiva e mentalista da relação mente-corpo. Descobertas recentes da neurociência parecem apoiar as noções de que (i) os eventos mentais são uma subclasse de eventos neurofisiológicos, e (ii) que são desprovidos de eficácia causal sobre o funcionamento do cérebro. Se o fisicalismo é verdade, então as crenças na potência causal de pensamentos conscientes e no livre arbítrio estão destinadas a fazer companhia a inúmeras outras causalidades imaginárias que foram destruídas pelo progresso da ciência.
Palavras-chave:
fisicalismo; relação mente-corpo; relação mente-cérebro; eventos mentais.
Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.
Full text available only in PDF format.
References
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Opening lecture delivered at the VII Brazilian Congress on Brain, Behavior and Emotions held in Gramado, Brazil, on 16 June 2011
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
Oct-Dec 2011
History
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Received
15 Aug 2011 -
Accepted
15 Oct 2011
