Neurophilosophy: A Philosophical Analysis for Interpretation of fMRI to Replace the Commonsense Psychology

Abstract

For thinking, brain activity occurs, yet not every area of our brain is active when we think about various things. There are significant ramifications for cognitive psychology and neuroscience from functional brain areas. It should enable us to apply neurophilosophical theories to the brain. This review aims to draw attention to neurophilosophy and its focus on fundamental problems in neuroscientific theories to address age-old metaphysical issues, i.e., the nature of consciousness, thinking, intention, and action. There are different theories and points of view in the field of neurophilosophy, but eliminative materialists and reductive materialists (a.k.a. mind-brain identity theory) are both strong candidates. Those are very well-established in the philosophy of mind, and they run counter to the development of conceptual succession in neuroscience. Both theorists rely on neuroscience to back up their conclusions about the mind. Eliminative materialism has received a lot of attention from several philosophical points of view. It begins with a critique of commonsense psychology and offers neurophilosophy as an alternative. So, for reductive materialists, mind is brain, whereas for eliminativists mind as brain. Both theorists have different views about mental states to cohere with neurophysiology. The philosophical problem of dualism, as the body/brain (physical), and mind/cognition (mental) is discussed in psychiatry, neuropsychology, and neuroscience. Neurophilosophy deals with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to shed light on psychosocial problems like moral psychology, free will, social interaction, and mood disorders. An fMRI is a neuroimaging technique and an essential tool for bridging cognitive psychology and neurophilosophic theories. It is used to investigate mental resilience, impairments, changes in neural dynamics, and neuroplasticity mainly for brain trauma. I will tie this discussion by discussing fMRI and commonsense psychology as exploratory rather than confirmatory evidence in my conclusion. How to cite this: Sohail A. Neurophilosophy: A Philosophical Analysis for Interpretation of fMRI to Replace the Commonsense Psychology. Life and Science. 2023; 4(4): 494-500. doi: http://doi.org/10.37185/LnS.1.1.392

Keywords

• brain, emotions, fmri, memory, neurobiology, philosophy