Downward Causation And The Neurobiology Of Free Will

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Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will

Nancey Murphy,George Ellis,Timothy O'Connor
Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will Book PDF

Author : Nancey Murphy,George Ellis,Timothy O'Connor
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 286 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2009-09-23
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783642032042

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Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will by Nancey Murphy,George Ellis,Timothy O'Connor Pdf

How is free will possible in the light of the physical and chemical underpinnings of brain activity and recent neurobiological experiments? How can the emergence of complexity in hierarchical systems such as the brain, based at the lower levels in physical interactions, lead to something like genuine free will? The nature of our understanding of free will in the light of present-day neuroscience is becoming increasingly important because of remarkable discoveries on the topic being made by neuroscientists at the present time, on the one hand, and its crucial importance for the way we view ourselves as human beings, on the other. A key tool in understanding how free will may arise in this context is the idea of downward causation in complex systems, happening coterminously with bottom up causation, to form an integral whole. Top-down causation is usually neglected, and is therefore emphasized in the other part of the book’s title. The concept is explored in depth, as are the ethical and legal implications of our understanding of free will. This book arises out of a workshop held in California in April of 2007, which was chaired by Dr. Christof Koch. It was unusual in terms of the breadth of people involved: they included physicists, neuroscientists, psychiatrists, philosophers, and theologians. This enabled the meeting, and hence the resulting book, to attain a rather broader perspective on the issue than is often attained at academic symposia. The book includes contributions by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, George F. R. Ellis , Christopher D. Frith, Mark Hallett, David Hodgson, Owen D. Jones, Alicia Juarrero, J. A. Scott Kelso, Christof Koch, Hans Küng, Hakwan C. Lau, Dean Mobbs, Nancey Murphy, William Newsome, Timothy O’Connor, Sean A.. Spence, and Evan Thompson.

Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will

Nancey Murphy,George Ellis,Timothy O'Connor
Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will Book PDF

Author : Nancey Murphy,George Ellis,Timothy O'Connor
Publisher : Springer
Page : 291 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2009-10-12
Category : Science
ISBN : 3642032060

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Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will by Nancey Murphy,George Ellis,Timothy O'Connor Pdf

How is free will possible in the light of the physical and chemical underpinnings of brain activity and recent neurobiological experiments? How can the emergence of complexity in hierarchical systems such as the brain, based at the lower levels in physical interactions, lead to something like genuine free will? The nature of our understanding of free will in the light of present-day neuroscience is becoming increasingly important because of remarkable discoveries on the topic being made by neuroscientists at the present time, on the one hand, and its crucial importance for the way we view ourselves as human beings, on the other. A key tool in understanding how free will may arise in this context is the idea of downward causation in complex systems, happening coterminously with bottom up causation, to form an integral whole. Top-down causation is usually neglected, and is therefore emphasized in the other part of the book’s title. The concept is explored in depth, as are the ethical and legal implications of our understanding of free will. This book arises out of a workshop held in California in April of 2007, which was chaired by Dr. Christof Koch. It was unusual in terms of the breadth of people involved: they included physicists, neuroscientists, psychiatrists, philosophers, and theologians. This enabled the meeting, and hence the resulting book, to attain a rather broader perspective on the issue than is often attained at academic symposia. The book includes contributions by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, George F. R. Ellis , Christopher D. Frith, Mark Hallett, David Hodgson, Owen D. Jones, Alicia Juarrero, J. A. Scott Kelso, Christof Koch, Hans Küng, Hakwan C. Lau, Dean Mobbs, Nancey Murphy, William Newsome, Timothy O’Connor, Sean A.. Spence, and Evan Thompson.

Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?

Nancey Murphy,Warren S. Brown
Did My Neurons Make Me Do It Book PDF

Author : Nancey Murphy,Warren S. Brown
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2007-06-14
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780191526916

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Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? by Nancey Murphy,Warren S. Brown Pdf

If humans are purely physical, and if it is the brain that does the work formerly assigned to the mind or soul, then how can it fail to be the case that all of our thoughts and actions are determined by the laws of neurobiology? If this is the case, then free will, moral responsibility, and, indeed, reason itself would appear to be in jeopardy. Nancey Murphy and Warren S. Brown here defend a non-reductive version of physicalism whereby humans are (sometimes) the authors of their own thoughts and actions. Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? brings together insights from both philosophy and the cognitive neurosciences to defeat neurobiological reductionism. One resource is a 'post-Cartesian' account of mind as essentially embodied and constituted by action-feedback-evaluation-action loops in the environment, and 'scaffolded' by cultural resources. Another is a non-mysterious account of downward (mental) causation explained in terms of a complex, higher-order system exercising constraints on lower-level causal processes. These resources are intrinsically related: the embeddedness of brain events in action-feedback loops is the key to their mentality, and those broader systems have causal effects on the brain itself. With these resources Murphy and Brown take on two problems in philosophy of mind: a response to the charges that physicalists cannot account for the meaningfulness of language nor the causal efficacy of the mental qua mental. Solutions to these problems are a prerequisite to addressing the central problem of the book: how can biological organisms be free and morally responsible? The authors argue that the free-will problem is badly framed if it is put in terms of neurobiological determinism; the real issue is neurobiological reductionism. If it is indeed possible to make sense of the notion of downward causation, then the relevant question is whether humans exert downward causation over some of their own parts and processes. If all organisms do this to some extent, what needs to be added to this animalian flexibility to constitute free and responsible action? The keys are sophisticated language and hierarchically ordered cognitive processes allowing (mature) humans to evaluate their own actions, motives, goals, and rational and moral principles.

The Neural Basis of Free Will

Peter Ulric Tse
The Neural Basis of Free Will Book PDF

Author : Peter Ulric Tse
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 473 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2013-02-22
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780262313162

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The Neural Basis of Free Will by Peter Ulric Tse Pdf

A neuroscientific perspective on the mind–body problem that focuses on how the brain actually accomplishes mental causation. The issues of mental causation, consciousness, and free will have vexed philosophers since Plato. In this book, Peter Tse examines these unresolved issues from a neuroscientific perspective. In contrast with philosophers who use logic rather than data to argue whether mental causation or consciousness can exist given unproven first assumptions, Tse proposes that we instead listen to what neurons have to say. Tse draws on exciting recent neuroscientific data concerning how informational causation is realized in physical causation at the level of NMDA receptors, synapses, dendrites, neurons, and neuronal circuits. He argues that a particular kind of strong free will and “downward” mental causation are realized in rapid synaptic plasticity. Such informational causation cannot change the physical basis of information realized in the present, but it can change the physical basis of information that may be realized in the immediate future. This gets around the standard argument against free will centered on the impossibility of self-causation. Tse explores the ways that mental causation and qualia might be realized in this kind of neuronal and associated information-processing architecture, and considers the psychological and philosophical implications of having such an architecture realized in our brains.

Free Will, Causality, and Neuroscience

Bernard Feltz,Marcus Missal,Andrew Cameron Sims
Free Will Causality and Neuroscience Book PDF

Author : Bernard Feltz,Marcus Missal,Andrew Cameron Sims
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2019
Category : PHILOSOPHY
ISBN : 9004409963

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Free Will, Causality, and Neuroscience by Bernard Feltz,Marcus Missal,Andrew Cameron Sims Pdf

Neuroscientists often consider free will to be an illusion. Contrary to this hypothesis, the contributions to this volume show that recent developments in neuroscience can also support the existence of free will. Firstly, the possibility of intentional consciousness is studied. Secondly, Libet's experiments are discussed from this new perspective. Thirdly, the relationship between free will, causality and language is analyzed. This approach suggests that language grants the human brain a possibility to articulate a meaningful personal life. Therefore, human beings can escape strict biological determinism.

Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?

Nancey C. Murphy,Warren S. Brown
Did My Neurons Make Me Do It Book PDF

Author : Nancey C. Murphy,Warren S. Brown
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0199568235

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Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? by Nancey C. Murphy,Warren S. Brown Pdf

If humans are purely physical, then must all our thoughts and actions be determined by the laws of neurobiology? Free will, moral responsibility, and reason itself appear to be in jeopardy. But Murphy and Brown present a non-reductive version of physicalism which leaves room for us to be (sometimes) the authors of our own thoughts and actions.

What's with Free Will?

Philip Clayton,James W. Walters
What s with Free Will Book PDF

Author : Philip Clayton,James W. Walters
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 222 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2020-03-10
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781532681622

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What's with Free Will? by Philip Clayton,James W. Walters Pdf

Are humans free, or are we determined by our genes and the world around us? The question of freedom is not only one of philosophy’s greatest conundrums, but also one of the most fundamental questions of human existence. It’s particularly pressing in societies like ours, where our core institutions of law, ethics, and religion are built around the belief in individual freedom. Can one still affirm human freedom in an age of science? And if free will doesn’t exist, does it make sense to act as though it does? These are the issues that are presented, probed, and debated in the following chapters. A dozen experts―specialists in medicine, psychology, ethics, theology, and philosophy—grapple with the multiple and often profound challenges presented by today’s brain science. After examining the arguments against traditional notions of free will, several of the authors champion the idea of a chastened but robust free will for today, one that allows us still to affirm the value of first-person experience.

Free Will

Uri Maoz,Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Free Will Book PDF

Author : Uri Maoz,Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 345 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2022-01-11
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780197572184

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Free Will by Uri Maoz,Walter Sinnott-Armstrong Pdf

What is free will? Can it exist in a determined universe? How can we determine who, if anyone, possesses it? Philosophers have debated the extent of human free will for millennia. In recent decades neuroscientists have joined the fray with questions of their own. Which neural mechanisms could enable conscious control of action? What are intentional actions? Do contemporary developments in neuroscience rule out free will or, instead, illuminate how it works? Over the past few years, neuroscientists and philosophers have increasingly come to understand that both fields can make substantive contributions to the free-will debate, so working together is the best path forward to understanding whether, when, and how our choices might be free This book contains thirty bidirectional exchanges between neuroscientists and philosophers that focus on the most critical questions in the neurophilosophy of free will. It mimics a lively, interdisciplinary conference, where experts answer questions and follow-up questions from the other field, helping each discipline to understand how the other thinks and works. Each chapter is concise and accessible to non-experts-free from disciplinary jargon and highly technical details-but also employs thorough and up-to-date research from experts in the field. The resulting collection should be useful to anyone who wants to get up to speed on the most fundamental issues in the rising field of the neurophilosophy of free will. It will interest experts from philosophy or neuroscience who want to learn about the other discipline, students in courses on a host of related topics, and lay readers who are fascinated by these profound issues.

Freedom and Neurobiology

John R. Searle
Freedom and Neurobiology Book PDF

Author : John R. Searle
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 129 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780231137522

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Freedom and Neurobiology by John R. Searle Pdf

"In the second half of the book, Searle applies his theory of social reality to the problem of political power, explaining the role of language in the formation of our political reality. The institutional structures that organize, empower, and regulate our lives - money, property, marriage, government - consist in the assignment and collective acceptance of certain statuses to objects and people. Whether it is the president of the United States, a twenty-dollar bill, or private property, these entities perform functions as determined by their status in our institutional reality. Searle focuses on the political powers that exist within these systems of status functions and the way in which language constitutes them."--BOOK JACKET.

Criterial Causation Offers a Neural Basis for Free Will, digital original edition

Peter Ulric Tse
Criterial Causation Offers a Neural Basis for Free Will digital original edition Book PDF

Author : Peter Ulric Tse
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 29 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2014-01-10
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780262319768

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Criterial Causation Offers a Neural Basis for Free Will, digital original edition by Peter Ulric Tse Pdf

In contrast with philosophers who use logic rather than data to argue whether mental causation or consciousness can exist given unproven first assumptions, Peter Ulric Tse proposes that we instead listen to what neurons have to say. In this BIT, Tse examines the role of physical/informational criteria in the neuronal model of mental causation and free will.

The Neural Basis of Free Will

Peter Tse
The Neural Basis of Free Will Book PDF

Author : Peter Tse
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 473 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2013
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780262019101

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The Neural Basis of Free Will by Peter Tse Pdf

The issues of mental causation, consciousness, and free will have vexed philosophers since Plato. This book examines these unresolved issues from a neuroscientific perspective. In contrast with philosophers who use logic rather than data to argue whether mental causation or consciousness can exist given unproven first assumptions, Tse proposes that we instead listen to what neurons have to say. Because the brain must already embody a solution to the mind--body problem, why not focus on how the brain actually realizes mental causation? Tse draws on exciting recent neuroscientific data concerning how informational causation is realized in physical causation at the level of NMDA receptors, synapses, dendrites, neurons, and neuronal circuits. He argues that a particular kind of strong free will and downward mental causation are realized in rapid synaptic plasticity. Recent neurophysiological breakthroughs reveal that neurons function as criterial assessors of their inputs, which then change the criteria that will make other neurons fire in the future. Such informational causation cannot change the physical basis of information realized in the present, but it can change the physical basis of information that may be realized in the immediate future. This gets around the standard argument against free will centered on the impossibility of self-causation. Tse explores the ways that mental causation and qualia might be realized in this kind of neuronal and associated information-processing architecture, and considers the psychological and philosophical implications of having such an architecture realized in our brains.

Surrounding Free Will

Alfred R. Mele
Surrounding Free Will Book PDF

Author : Alfred R. Mele
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2015
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199333950

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Surrounding Free Will by Alfred R. Mele Pdf

In fourteen articles and an introduction, contributors explore the subject of free will from the perspectives of neuroscience; social, cognitive, and developmental psychology; and philosophy (both traditional and experimental).

The Future of Punishment

Thomas A. Nadelhoffer,Thomas Nadelhoffer
The Future of Punishment Book PDF

Author : Thomas A. Nadelhoffer,Thomas Nadelhoffer
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 310 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2013-04-25
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780199779208

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The Future of Punishment by Thomas A. Nadelhoffer,Thomas Nadelhoffer Pdf

The twelve essays in this volume aim at providing philosophers, neuroscientists, psychologists, and legal theorists with an opportunity to examine the cluster of related issues that will need to be addressed as scholars struggle to come to grips with the picture of human agency being pieced together by researchers in the biosciences.

Psychiatry

Konstantinos N. Fountoulakis
Psychiatry Book PDF

Author : Konstantinos N. Fountoulakis
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 624 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2021-11-26
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9783030865412

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Psychiatry by Konstantinos N. Fountoulakis Pdf

This book was the end product of life experiences, thoughts and intellectual wanderings of the author, who through his career and for the last twenty years was always serving all the three aspects of a Psychiatrist: He is a clinician, a researcher and an academic teacher. The book includes a comprehensive history of Psychiatry since antiquity and until today, with an emphasis not only on main events but also specifically and with much detail and explanations, on the chain of events that led to a particular development. At the center of this work is the question ‘What is mental illness?’ and ‘Does free will exist?’. These are questions which tantalize Psychiatrists, neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers, patients and their families and the sensitive and educated lay persons alike. Thus, the book includes a comprehensive review and systematic elaboration on the definition and the concept of mental illness, a detailed discussion on the issue of free will as well as the state of the art of contemporary Psychiatry and the socio-political currents it has provoked. Finally the book includes a description of the academic, social and professional status of Psychiatry and Psychiatrists and a view of future needs and possible developments. A last moment addition was the chapter on conspiracy theories, as a consequence of the experience with the social media and the public response to the COVID-19 outbreak which coincided with the final stage of the preparation of the book. Their study is an excellent opportunity to dig deep into the relation among human psychology, mental health, the society and politics and to swim in intellectually dangerous waters.

Free Will Skepticism in Law and Society

Elizabeth Shaw,Derk Pereboom,Gregg D. Caruso
Free Will Skepticism in Law and Society Book PDF

Author : Elizabeth Shaw,Derk Pereboom,Gregg D. Caruso
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 247 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2019-08-29
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781108661263

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Free Will Skepticism in Law and Society by Elizabeth Shaw,Derk Pereboom,Gregg D. Caruso Pdf

'Free will skepticism' refers to a family of views that all take seriously the possibility that human beings lack the control in action - i.e. the free will - required for an agent to be truly deserving of blame and praise, punishment and reward. Critics fear that adopting this view would have harmful consequences for our interpersonal relationships, society, morality, meaning, and laws. Optimistic free will skeptics, on the other hand, respond by arguing that life without free will and so-called basic desert moral responsibility would not be harmful in these ways, and might even be beneficial. This collection addresses the practical implications of free will skepticism for law and society. It contains eleven original essays that provide alternatives to retributive punishment, explore what (if any) changes are needed for the criminal justice system, and ask whether we should be optimistic or pessimistic about the real-world implications of free will skepticism.