Neuroscience, Neurophilosophy and Pragmatism: Brains at Work with the World (New Directions in Philosophy and Cognitive Science)

Bringing together active neuroscientists, neurophilosophers, and scholars this volume considers the prospects of a neuroscientifically-informed pragmatism and a pragmatically-informed neuroscience on issues ranging from the nature of mental life to the implications of neuroscience for education and ethics. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Neuropragmatism and the Reconstruction of Scientific and Humanistic Worldviews....Pages 3-36 Keeping the Pragmatism in Neuropragmatism....Pages 37-56 How Computational Neuroscience Revealed that the Pragmatists Were Right....Pages 57-70 Pragmatism, Cognitive Capacity and Brain Function....Pages 71-102 Front Matter....Pages 103-103 The End of the Debate over Extended Cognition....Pages 105-124 Knowing and the Known: Brain Science and an Empirically Responsible Epistemology....Pages 125-139 Dewey’s Rejection of the Emotion/ Expression Distinction....Pages 140-161 Front Matter....Pages 163-163 Finding Unapparent Connections: How Our Hominin Ancestors Evolved Creativity by Solving Practical Problems....Pages 165-184 Neuropragmatism and Apprenticeship: A Model for Education....Pages 185-214 A Neuropragmatist Framework for Childhood Education: Integrating Pragmatism and Neuroscience to Actualize Article 29 of the UN Child Convention....Pages 215-239 Front Matter....Pages 241-241 Pragmatism and the Contribution of Neuroscience to Ethics....Pages 243-263 Pragmatist Ethics: A Dynamical Theory Based on Active Responsibility....Pages 264-290 Moral First Aid for a Neuroscientific Age....Pages 291-317 Back Matter....Pages 319-326 Cover 1 Series 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of Figures 8 List of Tables 9 Preface 10 Notes on Contributors 12 Part I Pragmatism, Philosophy, and theBrain 15 1 Neuropragmatism and theReconstruction of Scientific andHumanistic Worldviews 1 16 2 Keeping the Pragmatism inNeuropragmatism 50 3 How Computational NeuroscienceRevealed that the Pragmatists WereRight 70 4 Pragmatism, Cognitive Capacityand Brain Function 84 Part II Cognition, Emotion, and theWorld 116 5 The End of the Debate overExtended Cognition 117 6 Knowing and the Known: BrainScience and an EmpiricallyResponsible Epistemology 137 7 Dewey’s Rejection of the Emotion/Expression Distinction 152 Part III Creativity, Education, andApplication 174 8 Finding Unapparent Connections:How Our Hominin AncestorsEvolved Creativity by SolvingPractical Problems 175 9 Neuropragmatism andApprenticeship: A Model forEducation 195 10 A Neuropragmatist Framework forChildhood Education: IntegratingPragmatism and Neuroscienceto Actualize Article 29 of the UNChild Convention 225 Part IV Ethics, Neuroscience, andPossibility 250 11 Pragmatism and the Contributionof Neuroscience to Ethics 251 12 Pragmatist Ethics: A DynamicalTheory Based on ActiveResponsibility 272 13 Moral First Aid for a NeuroscientificAge 299 Index 326 Recent work in the neurosciences and neurophilosophy has found resources in the philosophical tradition of pragmatism. This volume is the first to bring together active neuroscientists, neurophilosophers, and scholars to consider the prospects of a neuroscientifically-informed pragmatism and a pragmatically-informed neuroscience on issues ranging from the nature of mental life to the implications of neuroscience for education and ethics. For the past 20 years, many people, from journalists to presidents, have advocated the importance of studying the brain for understanding a host of medical phenomena and disabilities. This enthusiasm has only recently been met with skepticism. This collection, however, takes a critical yet constructive attitude toward the import of the neurosciences. The aim is not only to provide a philosophical framework based in the pragmatism out of which the neurosciences initially grew, but also to modify and advance that framework in light of the fruits -as well as the limitations - of the neurosciences