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263Brain-Wise: Studies in NeurophilosophyMIT Press. 2002.Progress in the neurosciences is profoundly changing our conception of ourselves. Contrary to time-honored intuition, the mind turns out to be a complex of brain functions. And contrary to the wishful thinking of some philosophers, there is no stemming the revolutionary impact that brain research will have on our understanding of how the mind works. Brain-Wise is the sequel to Patricia Smith Churchland's Neurophilosophy, the book that launched a subfield. In a clear, conversational manner, this …Read more
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88Neural worlds and real worldsNature Reviews Neuroscience 3. 2002.States of the brain represent states of the world. A puzzle arises when one learns that at least some of the mind/brain’s internal representations, such as a sensation of heat or a sensation of red, do not genuinely resemble the external realities they allegedly represent: the mean kinetic energy of the molecules of the substance felt (temperature) and the mean electromagnetic reflectance profile of the seen object (color). The historical response has been to declare a distinction between object…Read more
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74“Neuroscience is Relevant for Philosophy”Problemos (88): 176-186. 2015.This is an interview with Professor Patricia S. Churchland. It covers themes such as eliminative materialism, folk psychology, neurophilosophy, the relationship between philosophy and science, moral norms as well as the criticism of contemporary analytic philosophy.
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The view from here: The nonsymbolic structure of spatial representationIn Joao Branquinho (ed.), The Foundations of Cognitive Science, Oxford: Clarendon Press. 2001.
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23Introduction: Neurophilosophy and Alzheimer's DiseaseIn Y. Christen & P. S. Churchland (eds.), Neurophilosophy and Alzheimer's Disease, Springer Verlag. pp. 1--4. 1992.
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44From Folk Psychology to Cognitive Science: The Case against BeliefPhilosophical Review 94 (3): 418. 1985.
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504As neuroscience uncovers these and other mechanisms regulating choices and social behaviour, we cannot help but wonder whether anyone truly chooses anything (though see "Is the universe deterministic?"). As a result, profound questions about responsibility are inescapable, not just regarding criminal justice, but in the day-to-day business of life. Given that, I suggest that free will, as traditionally understood, needs modification. Because of its importance in society, any description of free …Read more
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181Can neurobiology teach us anything about consciousness?Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 67 (4): 23-40. 1994.
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256Neural representation and neural computationIn L. Nadel (ed.), Philosophical Perspectives, Mit Press. pp. 343-382. 1989.
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72Neurophilosophy: Toward a Unified Science of the Mind/BrainPhilosophical Review 97 (4): 573. 1988.
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23Is the Visual System as Smart as It Looks?PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1982. 1982.Irvin Rock's hypothesis that certain stages of perceptual processing resemble problem solving in cognition is contrasted to some recent work in computer vision (Marr, Ullman) which tries to reduce intelligence in perception to computational organization. The focal example is subjective contours which Marr thought could be handled by computational modules without descending control, and which Rock thinks are the outcome of intelligent processing.
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57The Necessary-and-Sufficient BoondoggleAmerican Journal of Bioethics 7 (1): 54-55. 2007.No abstract
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10Discussion: The timing of sensations: Reply to LibetPhilosophy of Science 48 (September): 492-497. 1981.
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4Replies to comments to symposium on Patricia Smith Churchland's neurophilosophyInquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 29 (June): 241-272. 1986.
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94Word and ObjectMIT Press. 1960.Willard Van Orman Quine begins this influential work by declaring, "Language is asocial art.
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5Moral decision-making and the brainIn Judy Illes (ed.), Neuroethics: Defining the Issues in Theory, Practice, and Policy, Oxford University Press. 2005.
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349What Should We Expect From a Theory of Consciousness?In H. Jasper, L. Descarries, V. Castellucci & S. Rossignol (eds.), Consciousness: At the Frontiers of Neuroscience, Lippincott-raven. pp. 19-32. 1998.Within the domain of philosophy, it is not unusual to hear the claim that most questions about the nature of consciousness are essentially and absolutely beyond the scope of science, no matter how science may develop in the twenty-first century. Some things, it is pointed out, we shall never _ever_ understand, and consciousness is one of them (Vendler 1994, Swinburne 1994, McGinn 1989, Nagel 1994, Warner 1994). One line of reasoning assumes that consciousness is the manifestation of a distinctly…Read more
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37The co-evolutionary research ideologyIn Alvin Goldman (ed.), Readings in Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Mit Press. 1993.
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2Can neurobiology teach us anything about consciousness?" Presidential Address to the American Philosophical Associatiojn, Pacific DivisionProceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association. Lancaster Press: Lancaster, Pa. forthcoming.
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5Reduction and the neurobiological basis of consciousnessIn Anthony J. Marcel & E. Bisiach (eds.), Consciousness in Contemporary Science, Oxford University Press. 1988.
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2092A critique of pure visionIn Christof Koch & Joel L. David (eds.), Large-scale neuronal theories of the brain, Mit Press. pp. 23. 1993.Anydomainofscientificresearchhasitssustainingorthodoxy. Thatis, research on a problem, whether in astronomy, physics, or biology, is con- ducted against a backdrop of broadly shared assumptions. It is these as- sumptionsthatguideinquiryandprovidethecanonofwhatisreasonable-- of what "makes sense." And it is these shared assumptions that constitute a framework for the interpretation of research results. Research on the problem of how we see is likewise sustained by broadly shared assump- tions, wh…Read more
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