Gamboa, John Paul
(2024)
Where Is My Mind? Against Mental Localization in Neuroscience.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Humans, cats, and other biological systems experience an assortment of thoughts, emotions, sensations, etc. as they go about their lives. From a broadly scientific worldview, the default position is that such mental phenomena take place inside the brain. This view helps make sense of many empirical discoveries in neuroscience, including the effectiveness and limitations of current therapies for psychiatric and nervous system disorders. Nonetheless, I argue in this dissertation that neuroscience provides no compelling empirical reasons to believe that the brain is the locus of the mind. Evidence of functional localization in the brain is not evidence of mental localization. Furthermore, I argue that nothing of practical or scientific significance rests on locating mental phenomena within the brain or anywhere else. The key is to disentangle the metaphysics that is projectable onto neuroscience from the theoretical assumptions that actually matter for doing neuroscience and achieving its goals. I show how abandoning (tacit) acceptance of mental localization provides a better understanding of the aims, results, and practices of neuroscience. The conclusion of the dissertation sketches an account of mental discourse which avoids perennial puzzles in the philosophy of mind while clarifying how mental phenomena could be real, useful for various explanatory purposes, and yet located nowhere at all.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
27 August 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
2 July 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
27 August 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
23 July 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
207 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > History and Philosophy of Science |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Philosophy of Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Functional Localization, Neural Mechanisms |
| Date Deposited: |
27 Aug 2024 13:30 |
| Last Modified: |
27 Aug 2024 13:30 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46731 |
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