Vol. 5 No. 2 (2026) Published
Volume 5, Issue 2 (2026) of the Journal of Neurophilosophy brings together a substantial and intellectually diverse collection of contributions addressing contemporary questions at the intersection of neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, and theories of mind. Published issue reflects the journal’s interdisciplinary orientation by combining research articles, opinion and perspective contributions, review articles, theoretical and hypothesis-driven papers, and critical book reviews. Rather than restricting the discussion of mind and consciousness to a single explanatory framework, the issue presents multiple approaches through which neural activity, subjective experience, cognition, selfhood, meaning, embodiment, and philosophical interpretation can be considered together.
The issue begins with New Perspectives on Human Consciousness as the Brain Activation State by Cheng Gong, which places the relationship between consciousness and brain activation at the center of discussion. This contribution establishes an important starting point for the issue because the question of how conscious experience relates to neural activity remains one of the fundamental problems shared by neuroscience and philosophy of mind. By approaching consciousness through the concept of brain activation, the article contributes to the broader effort to identify explanatory connections between observable neural processes and the phenomenological dimensions of conscious experience.
The Opinion and Perspectives section extends these concerns into a more applied and technologically oriented domain. Nandor Ludvig’s contribution, Wearable EEG and Behavioral Monitoring for Daylong Psychotherapeutic Support in Drug Addiction: Activating the Soul's Pro-Recovery Mechanisms, explores the potential relationship between wearable EEG technologies, behavioral monitoring, and psychotherapeutic support. The paper introduces questions concerning the practical use of neurophysiological monitoring beyond conventional laboratory environments. In this context, the issue connects philosophical and neuroscientific questions with contemporary developments in neurotechnology and psychological intervention, demonstrating how emerging technologies may create new possibilities for understanding and supporting human behavior.
The Review Articles section significantly broadens the conceptual scope of the issue. Hasan Belli, Fırat Belli, and Hasan Gokcay’s From Wittgenstein’s Language Games to LLMs: Representation, Meaning, and the Future of Psychotherapy brings together philosophy of language, contemporary artificial intelligence, representation, meaning, and psychotherapy. The inclusion of large language models within a philosophical discussion of language and meaning is particularly relevant to current debates concerning artificial intelligence and the nature of understanding. The contribution illustrates how classical philosophical questions can acquire renewed significance when considered in relation to contemporary computational systems.
Jian Ding’s The Rebirth of Philosophy further expands the intellectual scope of the review section by considering the continuing role and possible transformation of philosophical inquiry. Alongside this contribution, Taruna Ikrar, Wachyudi Muchsin, and Alfi Sophian provide Quantum Approaches to Brain and Mind: A Comprehensive Review of Theories, Evidence, and Future Directions. This review addresses one of the more challenging and interdisciplinary areas within contemporary discussions of consciousness and cognition: the possible relevance of quantum approaches to brain and mind. Together, these review papers demonstrate the breadth of theoretical possibilities currently being considered within neurophilosophical research.
The largest section of the issue, Hypothesis and Theory, provides a particularly extensive examination of theoretical models of consciousness and brain function. Roberto García Sánchez’s The Neurometabolic Condition of Consciousness: Mitochondrial Regulation of Neural Criticality and Brain Dynamics emphasizes the relationship between consciousness, metabolism, mitochondria, neural criticality, and brain dynamics. This approach highlights the importance of biological and energetic mechanisms in discussions of conscious states and illustrates how neurophilosophical questions can be connected to detailed accounts of physiological organization.
Philip Clapson’s Theory of Brain-Sign: A Scientific Revision of the Consciousness Concept proposes another conceptual approach to the relationship between brain processes and consciousness. The paper reflects the continuing need to examine the conceptual foundations through which consciousness is scientifically described and theoretically understood. Michael Remler’s Sleep, Negentropy and Consciousness similarly addresses consciousness from the perspective of sleep and thermodynamic or informational concepts, creating a bridge between biological states and broader theoretical questions concerning order, information, and conscious experience.
The theoretical diversity continues with Juergen J. Stueber’s Brain and Symmetry – A Principle Theory of Brain Function and Marques A. Reavis’s Substratism: The Material Continuity of Being. These contributions approach brain function and existence from different conceptual directions, demonstrating that neurophilosophy is not limited to narrowly defined empirical questions. Instead, it can also investigate fundamental assumptions concerning organization, material continuity, and the principles through which biological systems and mental phenomena may be understood.
Parviz Khataee’s contribution, The Default Mode Network as a Pathological Attractor State: A Hypothesis on Self-Reinforcing Cognitive Loops, Contaminated Baselines, and Implications for Human Health and Consciousness, introduces a hypothesis concerning the default mode network and self-reinforcing cognitive processes. The paper connects brain-network dynamics with cognition and consciousness and illustrates how contemporary neuroscience can generate new conceptual models for understanding persistent patterns of mental activity.
The remaining theoretical contributions further emphasize questions of selfhood, reflection, teleology, and the physical foundations of mind. Kyrylo Somkin’s A Neurophilosophical Model of Personal and Meta-reflective Modes of Mind considers different modes of personal and meta-reflective cognition, while Stanislav Tregub’s From Philosophy to Physics of the Mind: Teleological Transduction Theory explores a transition from philosophical approaches to more physically oriented theories of mind. Taken together, these papers demonstrate the continuing effort to construct explanatory frameworks that can connect philosophical concepts with models of brain and cognitive processes.
The Book Review section complements the research and theoretical contributions by situating neurophilosophical questions within a wider scholarly and cultural context. Junhao Xing and Da Dong review Bickhard’s The Whole Person through the perspective of emergent normativity, while Melinda S. Gordon examines Patricia MacCormack’s work on posthuman ethics, embodiment, and cultural theory. Anita M. Rosenberg provides a critical assessment of Gerhard Roth’s work on the evolution of brains and minds, and John McCullan reviews Franco Fabbro’s Biological and Neuroscientific Foundations of Philosophy: Towards a New Paradigm. The section concludes with a review of Battlestar Galactica: Investigating Flesh, Spirit, and Steel, demonstrating how questions of embodiment, identity, technology, and human nature can also be approached through cultural and science-fiction perspectives.
One of the notable characteristics of this issue is therefore its methodological and conceptual plurality. The contributions do not approach consciousness, mind, or brain function from a single theoretical position. Instead, they employ neuroscientific, philosophical, computational, biological, physical, informational, and cultural perspectives. This plurality is particularly appropriate for neurophilosophy because many of the field’s central problems involve explanatory levels that cannot easily be separated. Neural activity, subjective experience, cognition, language, self-reflection, behavior, and philosophical interpretation are interconnected dimensions of the broader problem of understanding the human mind.
The issue also illustrates the increasingly important role of emerging technologies and interdisciplinary methods. Wearable EEG, behavioral monitoring, large language models, and contemporary models of brain-network dynamics demonstrate how technological developments are changing the questions that researchers can ask about mind and behavior. At the same time, the theoretical contributions show that technological and empirical progress does not eliminate philosophical questions. Instead, new scientific developments frequently generate additional questions about meaning, representation, consciousness, identity, agency, and the relationship between physical processes and subjective experience.
Overall, Volume 5, Issue 2 of the Journal of Neurophilosophy provides a broad overview of current interdisciplinary discussions concerning brain, mind, and consciousness. Its combination of empirical orientation, theoretical speculation, conceptual analysis, comprehensive reviews, and critical book reviews creates a varied intellectual landscape. The issue demonstrates the value of maintaining dialogue between neuroscience and philosophy while also incorporating perspectives from psychology, artificial intelligence, physics, biology, psychotherapy, ethics, and cultural theory.
As a complete issue, Volume 5, Issue 2 reflects the continuing expansion of neurophilosophy as a field concerned not only with explaining consciousness but also with examining the conceptual, biological, technological, and cultural conditions through which human mental life is understood. Its diverse contributions provide researchers, clinicians, philosophers, neuroscientists, psychologists, and scholars of cognition with multiple points of entry into ongoing debates about consciousness and the mind. In this respect, the issue serves as a substantial interdisciplinary collection that encourages further theoretical development, empirical investigation, and sustained dialogue across disciplinary boundaries.
— The Editorial Team
Journal of NeuroPhilosophy (JNφphi)
