What can neuroscience explain?
Brain and Mind 2: 243-248, 2001
Horgan’s perceptive discussion of Freudian psychology, Prozac and evolutionary
biology cannot mitigate the problems that seriously weaken his book (Horgan,
1999). While he certainly manages to deflate some of the more outrageous hype
surrounding the scientific and often not-so-scientific study of the mind, his criticism
of the brain and behavioral sciences contains a number of flaws, some of
which I will address below.My response focuses on his discussion of neuroscience.
As we shall see, the three mysteries that Horgan believes cripple neuroscience are
certainly not as serious as he insists.
Neuroscience is fascinating, as Horgan reminds us, because it’s about us. Few
can fail to be attracted by the idea of a science that helps us to understand the
material basis of human consciousness, and indeed it’s the prospect of discovering
the solution to the mind-body problem that draws researchers into the field in
the first place. And yet, nowadays most young scientists find themselves driven,
early in their careers, into the data-rich corners of scientific specialization and far
from grander problems like the nature of consciousness and the solution to the
mind-body problem. Consequently, for Horgan, once we get behind the exciting
rhetoric, the workaday reality of contemporary neuroscience is something of a
disappointment. The funny thing about this book is that Horgan actually seems
happy that neuroscience isn’t going to live up to the more extreme hype anytime
soon. When it comes to the mind, Horgan is a lover of mystery and in fact argues
that neuroscience is destined to fail by dint of insurmountable conceptual and
practical obstacles.
Horgan’s perceptive discussion of Freudian psychology, Prozac and evolutionary biology cannot mitigate the problems that seriously weaken his book (Horgan, 1999). While he certainly manages to deflate some of the more outrageous hype surrounding the scientific and often not-so-scientific study of the mind, his criticism of the brain and behavioral sciences contains a number of flaws, some of which I will address below.My response focuses on his discussion of neuroscience. As we shall see, the three mysteries that Horgan believes cripple neuroscience are certainly not as serious as he insists.
Neuroscience is fascinating, as Horgan reminds us, because it’s about us. Few can fail to be attracted by the idea of a science that helps us to understand the material basis of human consciousness, and indeed it’s the prospect of discovering the solution to the mind-body problem that draws researchers into the field in the first place. And yet, nowadays most young scientists find themselves driven, early in their careers, into the data-rich corners of scientific specialization and far from grander problems like the nature of consciousness and the solution to the mind-body problem. Consequently, for Horgan, once we get behind the exciting rhetoric, the workaday reality of contemporary neuroscience is something of a disappointment. The funny thing about this book is that Horgan actually seems happy that neuroscience isn’t going to live up to the more extreme hype anytime soon. When it comes to the mind, Horgan is a lover of mystery and in fact argues that neuroscience is destined to fail by dint of insurmountable conceptual and practical obstacles.
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