Philosophical Psychology 19 (6):729-742 (2006)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
Philosophers have been talking about brain states for almost 50 years and as of yet no one has articulated a theoretical account of what one is. In fact this issue has received almost no attention and cognitive scientists still use meaningless phrases like 'C-fiber firing' and 'neuronal activity' when theorizing about the relation of the mind to the brain. To date when theorists do discuss brain states they usually do so in the context of making some other argument with the result being that any discussion of what brain states are has a distinct en passant flavor. In light of this it is a goal of mine to make brain states the center of attention by providing some general discussion of them. I briefly look at the argument of Bechtel and Mundale, as I think that they expose a common misconception philosophers had about brain states early on. I then turn to briefly examining Polger's argument, as I think he offers an intuitive account of what we expect brain states to be as well as a convincing argument against a common candidate for knowledge about brain states that is currently "on the scene." I then introduce a distinction between brain states and states of the brain: Particular brain states occur against background states of the brain. I argue that brain states are patterns of synchronous neural firing, which reflects the electrical face of the brain; states of the brain are the gating and modulating of neural activity and reflect the chemical face of the brain
|
Keywords | neural synchrony identity theory |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1080/09515080600923271 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Naming and Necessity: Lectures Given to the Princeton University Philosophy Colloquium.Saul A. Kripke - 1980 - Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press.
View all 22 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
The Myth of Phenomenological Overflow.Richard Brown - 2012 - Consciousness and Cognition 21 (2):599-604.
The Brain and its States.Richard Brown - 2012 - In Shimon Edelman, Tomer Fekete & Neta Zach (eds.), Being in Time: Dynamical Models of Phenomenal Experience. John Benjamins. pp. 211-238.
Towards a Computational Theory of Experience.Tomer Fekete & Shimon Edelman - 2011 - Consciousness and Cognition 20 (3):807-827.
The Standard Ontological Framework of Cognitive Neuroscience: Some Lessons From Broca’s Area.Marco Viola & Elia Zanin - 2017 - Philosophical Psychology 30 (7):945-969.
Fundamentals of Whole Brain Emulation: State, Transition and Update Representations.Randal A. Koene - 2012 - International Journal of Machine Consciousness 4 (01):5-21.
View all 7 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Evaluating the Evidence for Multiple Realization.Thomas W. Polger - 2009 - Synthese 167 (3):457 - 472.
Polger on the Illusion of Contingent Identity.Don Merrell - 2011 - International Journal of Philosophical Studies 19 (4):593 - 602.
Churchland on Direct Introspection of Brain States.Natika Newton - 1986 - Analysis 46 (March):97-102.
Electrographic Correlates of Brain Reactions to Afferent Stimuli in Postcomatose Unconscious States After Severe Brain Injury.E. V. Sharova - 2005 - Human Physiology 31 (3):245-254.
Brain Electrical Activity and Subjective Experience During Altered States of Consciousness: Ganzfeld and Hypnagogic States.Jirí Wackerman, Peter Pütz, Simone Büchi, Inge Strauch & Dietrich Lehmann - 2002 - International Journal of Psychophysiology 46 (2):123-146.
Could Mental States Be Brain Processes?Jerome Shaffer - 1961 - Journal of Philosophy 58 (December):813-22.
The Brain and its States.Richard Brown - 2012 - In Shimon Edelman, Tomer Fekete & Neta Zach (eds.), Being in Time: Dynamical Models of Phenomenal Experience. John Benjamins. pp. 211-238.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2009-01-28
Total views
1,180 ( #4,755 of 2,498,178 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
77 ( #9,812 of 2,498,178 )
2009-01-28
Total views
1,180 ( #4,755 of 2,498,178 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
77 ( #9,812 of 2,498,178 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads