The Human Sciences after the Decade of the Brain

The Human Sciences after the Decade of the Brain brings together exciting new works that address today’s key challenges for a mutual interaction between cognitive neuroscience and the social sciences and humanities. Taking up the methodological and conceptual problems of choosing a neuroscience approach to disciplines such as philosophy, history, ethics and education, the book deepens discussions on a range of epistemological, historical, and sociological questions about the "neuro-turn" in the new millennium. The book’s three sections focus on (i) epistemological questions posed by neurobiologically informed approaches to philosophy and history, (ii) neuroscience’s influence on explanations for social and moral behavior, and (iii) the consequences of the neuro-turn in diverse sectors of social life such as science, education, film, and human self-understanding.

This book is an important resource both for students and scholars of cognitive neuroscience and biological psychology interested in the philosophical, ethical, and societal influences of—and on—their work as well as for students and scholars from the social sciences and humanities interested in neuroscience.

Explores the recent influence of neuroscience on the humanities and social sciences and how they respond to these influencesOffers in-depth analysis of the theoretical and practical influence of a brain-centered scientific view in diverse areas of the social sciences including economics, education, cultural studies, and philosophyInvestigates contributions of the history of science to scrutinizing current neuroscience–based approaches to social and moral behavior

Part I: Prospects and Limitations of Neuroscience Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences 1. Neurophilosophy or Philosophy of Neuroscience? What Neuroscience and Philosophy Can and Cannot Do for Each Other 2. Philosophical Puzzles Evade Empirical Evidence: Some Thoughts and Clarifications Regarding the Relation Between Brain Sciences and Philosophy of Mind 3. “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Neuroscience?” Neuroscience’s Impact on Our Notions of Self and Free Will 4. Free Will—Between Philosophy and Neuroscience 5. Histories of the Brain: Toward a Critical Interaction of the Humanities and Neurosciences

Part II: The Neurosciences of Social Sciences and Ethics 6. The Theory of Brain-Sign: A New Model of Brain Operation 7. On the Redundancies of “Social Agency” 8. Two Kinds of Reverse Inference in Cognitive Neuroscience 9. The Neuroscience of Ethics Beyond the Is-Ought Orthodoxy: The Example of the Dual Process Theory of Moral Judgment

Part III: The Neurosciences in Society. Social, Cultural, and Ethical Implications of the Neuro-Turn 10. Effects of the Neuro-Turn: The Neural Network as a Paradigm for Human Self-Understanding 11. Brain, Art, Salvation. On the Traditional Character of the Neuro-Hype 12. “A Mind Plague on Both Your Houses”: Imagining the Impact of the Neuro-Turn on the Neurosciences 13. Being a Good External Frontal Lobe: Parenting Teenage Brains 14. Toward Neuroscience Literacy?—Theoretical and Practical Considerations 15. “Strangers” in Neuroscientific Research 16. At the Push of a Button, Narrative Strategies and the Image of Deep Brain Stimulation