Journal of NeuroPhilosophy

David Hume, Causation, and the Problem of Induction

Chris M. Lorkowski — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Scottish philosopher David Hume provided some of the most novel and important insights into the nature of causation. This article introduces his most important lines of thought regarding cause and effect, specifically, his analysis of causation culminating in his two definitions of causation and the Problem of Induction.

Solving Mind-Body Issues Requires Combining Philosophical Reflection and Empirical Research

Marja-Liisa Kakkuri-Knuuttila — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper argues that to progress with philosophical issues concerning brain-mind relations one needs to combine philosophical reflection and empirical research with theoretical model building. Philosophy and abstract theorizing alone do not carry us far, as will be illustrated by analyzing the views about panpsychism by the quantum physicist David Bohm, who builds his reasoning on quantum mechanical analogies. His reflection around the notion of active information, adopted in his causal interpretation of quantum mechanics to replace the Newtonian notion of force, turns out to be a fallacy of equivocation. His other line of reasoning to specify matter-mind unity in terms of soma-significance and signa-somatic processes yields problems of its own. To illustrate empirical investigations on brain-mind relations, I shall present the tripartite model of the experiential selfhood and the related Self-Me-I index as proposed by the neuroscientists Fingelkurts and Fingelkurts, along with their background theory called operational architectonics (OA) of brain-mind functioning. The model states that the three components of selfhood, Self, Me, and I, correlate to three distinct operationally synchronized cortical areas, the frontal cortex, the right posterior cortex, and the left posterior cortex. The philosophical and practical benefits of their framework will be exemplified by presenting the results of a series of studies with the philosopher Tarja Kallio-Tamminen about the effects of meditation reflected in the Self-Me-I index.

Some Social Aspects of the Soul of Multiverse Hypothesis: Human Societies and the Soul of Multiverse

Nandor Ludvig — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

As a continuation of this author’s previous cosmological neuroscience papers on the hypothesized Soul of Multiverse and its possible laws, the present work examined the social aspects of four of these laws. The following key aspects were recognized: (1) Knowing about the cosmic Law of Coexistence in Diversity can let our mind respect not only the endless diversity of human beings but also the cohesive force of space-time in which all are connected. This may help realizing the superiority of cooperation for shared goals over competition for gaining by harming others. (2) Knowing about the cosmic Law of Truth in Complexity can ready our mind to confront the problems of societies with the understanding that these problems are much more complex than generally thought. This may help initiating the needed intellectual renaissance of the 21^st century. (3) Knowing about the cosmic Law of Divine - Evil Asymmetry can make our mind appreciate the slight yet sufficient supremacy of divine over evil. This may help restoring faith in the eventual creation of a just society, where social justice is defined as an administrative mechanism providing the right conditions for every human being to accomplish his or her Conscience-led Mission throughout life, while allowing each of these accomplishments to be reciprocated with the gratitude it induced in the involved social systems, small or large, to let equal opportunities in life coexist with due diversity in welcomed, not abused, social recognitions. And (4) knowing about the cosmic Law of Lives to Transcend can empower our mind to build on these advances. This may help moving evolution towards the human species worthy of its origin and destination.

How Testosterone and Serotonin Drive the Shift in Global Power Dynamics, and Geopolitics of Social Conflict in the Clash of Civilizations

Roy Barzilai — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The recent atrocious war starting in 2022 between Russia and Ukraine has highlighted the underlying fundamental tensions between the two polar sides of the Eurasian grand supercontinent, connecting Western Europe (and also the United States across the Atlantic Ocean, further west) on one polar side, versus the Far East of Asia where China is centered on the other polar side, and Russia, as a land bridge between them then absorbing influences from both sides through its history over the last millennium. This great geophysical divide has been an important point in history of human conflict, in periods of war such as the great invasion of the Mongol hoards beginning in the thirteenth century, leading to the unification of today’s Russia, China, and Iran (ancient Persia) under the Mongol Empire. The Rise of the Islamic Empire in the seventh century also led to great conquest stretching from the east in China to Spain (Andalusia) in the West. Today, in the twenty-first century, we are experiencing similar challenges with rise of Islamic jihad for global caliphate and global social conflict in the East-West paradigm. In this article we shall examine this fundamental global social divide from the holistic view of Sociophysics, seeking to understand the dynamic behavior of human crowds in terms of complex system moved by physical, biological and social forces. This work further develops the theory presented in the 2019 article, “Solar Cycles, Light, Sex Hormones and The Life Cycles of Civilization: Toward Integrated Chronobiology”, which suggests sex and growth hormones, driven by seasonal solar patterns (chronobiology) are the driving force of human social dynamics. According to this view, solar energy levels reaching us as daylight determine human sex hormones levels, regulating our biological and sexual behavior, by driving human social mood trends and collective action, manifesting itself in the rhythm of human history from fall of civilization to a Dark Age of plagues pandemics and wars, to rebirth into a Renaissance leading to an age of Enlightenment.

Physicists Don’t Understand Color

Brent Allsop — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

You can demonstrate a subjective quality like redness is different from red light. If you add a device that converts a red signal into a green one, between the retina and the optic nerve, the strawberry will seem green. It’s not about light hitting the retina, it’s about how the signal is processed. In this case, the greenness must be a quality of our conscious knowledge of the strawberry, not of the red light landing on the retina. If you use sufficient, well defined terminology, you can objectively communicate the nature of subjective qualities. For example, even though you know what it is like to see something that is red you cannot know that what happens inside my brain is the same as yours. It may be that “My redness is like your greenness, both of which we call red.” The properties of the red light are the same, but the experience the light produces could be different. What we lack is a universal dictionary to define what “redness” is, and how it differs from “red”. This is because physicists can’t yet answer: “Which of all our descriptions of stuff in the brain, including possible descriptions of yet unknown processes, is a description of redness?” Consciousness isn’t a ‘hard problem’ it is a color problem. Because if you understand color, that model of computation can extend to the rest of consciousness.

The Infinite Self: A Philosophy on the Origin and Nature of Consciousness

Sam Breslauer — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The origin and nature of consciousness remains a deeply perplexing mystery for material scientists. Many material approaches towards the study of consciousness have been employed but have struggled to scratch beyond the surface of this strange yet intimately familiar phenomenon of the universe. This paper aims to provide a refreshingly new perspective that explains various theological, philosophical and physical interconnections that help solve the puzzle of consciousness. At the heart of this model is the notion that the material universe relies on the initial existence of an eternal Creator, whose central characteristic is Self-consciousness. It is the Self-love that emerges from the infinite consciousness of the Creator that provides the cause for ‘creation itself’ and explains how the differentiated material universe emerges from a unified immaterial origin. However, although creation relies on the primordial presence of the Creator, the Creator in turn relies on the existence of the infinite void of Nothingness.

In Search of the Ultimate Model

Melvin Felton — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In recent years, researchers from a variety of scientific disciplines have begun to notice surprising similarity between the network and topological features of the human brain, or brain-like systems in general, and the picture of the universe emerging out of theoretical physics. In this paper, I discuss some of these recent developments and suggest ways to further investigate structural and dynamical similarities between the human brain and universe. I discuss the impact that a close correspondence between these two systems would have on research in the fields of neuroscience and theoretical physics, and I discuss what type of fundamental underlying processes could have given rise to such a relationship between the brain and universe. Given the high demand in fields like theoretical physics for a system capable of modeling the universe, I suggest a systematic comparison of the ideas emerging out of physics concerning the fundamental nature of the universe, and the ideas emerging out of neuroscience concerning the fundamental nature of the brain and mind.

What are Conscious Sensations?

Susan Pockett — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Existing theories about the nature of conscious sensations are discussed. The oldest classification system contrasts dualist theories (which say consciousness is an abstract entity) with monist theories (which say consciousness is a concrete entity). A more recent system contrasts process theories ("consciousness is a process, not a thing") with vehicle theories (consciousness is a property of one or more of the things associated with brain processes). The present paper first points out that processes are abstracta, which makes process theories dualist. It then argues that (a) dualist theories are untestable and therefore unscientific and (b) process theories which invoke information are at odds with the normal definition of information. Then two separate kinds of vehicle theory are discussed: first the neural identity theory and then a theory that pulls together the enormous volume of data generated by Crick's suggestion to forget about theories and simply measure the neural correlates of consciousness into a proposal equating sensory consciousness with certain patterns in the electromagnetic fields generated by brain function. The paper concludes with an injunction to stop researching this topic altogether, on the grounds that the results are likely to be used in unacceptably dystopian developments.

Investigation of the Relationship between Anxiety Disorder and Time Perception with Perceptional Paradigm

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Anxiety is a pathological condition, as well as a condition that is continued in nature according to the event and situation to keep the vitality alive. For this reason, it is challenging to examine the relationship between the perception of time and the anxiety disease experienced within the limits of normality. Anxiety is one of the most studied topics today. It is also thought that the physical symptoms of anxiety affect cognitive processes. Anxiety, which is observed either alone or in combination with many disorders, shows a possible relationship between the perception of time and some findings related to the subject. These findings show us that people with anxiety disorder have a faster perception of time and a shorter perception estimation. Noticeably more significant differences were found in studies withadolescents. This study used the Beck Anxiety Scale, Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, Retrospective and Prospective Time Perception Paradigm, and a Demographic Information Form to collect data. As the variables thought to affect the results of the study were detected in 44 of the 212 randomly selected participants, these participants were excluded from the evaluation, and this study was continued with the data of 168 participants. When the findings are evaluated in general, there is a significant difference between the anxiety scale scores of the sample group and the gender variable. According to this finding, it can be said that the level of anxietyvaries between men and women. By looking at the 10, 20, 30, and 40-second video reactions of the participants showing anxiety symptoms; It has beendetermined that anxiety impairs the time perception of individuals.

A Critique of Libet and Wegner’s Argument Against Free Will

Ferdinard Fosu-Blankson, Husein Inusah — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The research of Benjamin Libet and Daniel Wegner are groundbreaking works in neuropsychology that make arguments against human freedom. However, Libet’s and Wegner’s arguments are marred with some philosophical inconsistencies including; misconceptions, logical errors, and causal fallacies which seems to emanate from the problem of subjecting the concept of free will to an empirical enquiry only. In this essay, it is argued that empirical enquiry alone limits the study of the role of consciousness and its involvement in decision-making. It is suggested that scientific assessment alone may not be exhaustive in the evaluation of the idea of free will considering the role of consciousness and the absence of causal evidence between the interactions of the mind and the brain.

My Journey to Neurophilosophy: Paul Thagard

Paul Thagard — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Paul Thagard describes how his current work in neurophilosophy grew out of a long series of engagements with philosophy, philosophy of science, cognitive science, neural networks, and theoretical neuroscience. Each of these engagements had cumulative advantages over its predecessors. Neurophilosophy is prospering by applying insights about the workings of the brain to central problems in epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics.

A Look at the Future and an Open Call for Scientific Community

Sultan Tarlacı — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

What we call science is the systematization of information obtained from nature. Nature has had its own laws from the beginning. Some of these laws are easy to express, while others stretch our understanding and even our sense of logic. Our efforts to understand nature and its workings, that is our production of scientific knowledge, will never end. We may never truly understand the workings of nature, or get close to the real truth. Therefore, it is ridiculous to behave as if we knew all of the workings of nature and to say “this is not scientific; it is in conflict with the (known) laws of science”. The clearest example of this is when we see the workings of quantum physics in biological structures. When nature is working, it does not know the laws of our science and doesn’t even take notice of them. Nature even sometimes winks at us with “anomalies”. We learn from nature but we cannot impose on nature the laws we have learned from it.

The Posterior Cingulate Cortex Again Forgotten

Sultan Tarlacı — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Koch et al., (2022) 'Repetitive TMS applied to the precuneus stabilizes cognitive status in Alzheimer's disease,' we think that some findings are misunderstood and there are methodological problems. Neuromodulation approaches have been investigated for a long time in the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. On the other hand, the precuneus region, which is the subject of the research, cannot be considered as an isolated region due to its close neighborhood. Precuneus, it is considered the main center of the default mode network (DMN) like the prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). To date, many DLPFC stimulation studies have been performed with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been published. It is difficult to evaluate the effect claimed as a result of the research specific to the precuneus region. Theoretically, the effect can be expected with the excitation of any part of the default network. However, unlike previous rTMS studies that stimulated the DLPFC, the authors chose to stimulate the precuneus, the main center of DMN.

Theory of Mind, Phenomenology, and the Double Empathy Problem

Elisabetta Angela Rizzo — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

According to some neurocognitive studies, autistic people do not have a theory of mind (ToM); this means that they are unable to interpret the thoughts, beliefs and intentions of others just by observing their behaviour and/or listening to what they say and how they say it. By contrast, researchers from phenomenology claim that autistic people experience issues in earlier forms of intersubjectivity and that in some cases a ToM may be used to compensate for issues in empathy. My purpose is to present both the ToM account, along with its internal accounts (theory-theory, simulation theory, theory of mind mechanism), and an overview of phenomenology, followed by the presentation of some of the phenomenological counterarguments to ToM. Finally, I argue that both the neurocognitive approach and the phenomenological view seem to assume that issues reside in autistic people only and do not take into account the communication gap between autistic people and non-autistic people. As recent studies claim, autistic people are able to understand other autistic people, while they experience difficulties in communication when involved in intersubjective relations with non-autistic people. This mismatch between the two groups has been labelled the double empathy problem, and I propose that ToM and phenomenology may offer their support to this new perspective.