Abstract
In a previous article (Axmacher, 2013) I argued that neuroscientific and psychoanalytic explanations are in general epistemologically consistent with each other, even if psychoanalytic claims refer to (typically unconscious) reasons, whereas neuroscientific claims are about causes. I claimed that hermeneutic (psychoanalytic) explanations are not inconsistent with causal (neuroscientific) explanations even if they are typically given as “deferred reconstructions”–in other words, as post-hoc explanations of feelings, symptoms or behavioral patterns that initially appear irrational, random and senseless. Specifically, I claimed that psychoanalytic explanations—like (neuro)scientific explanations—are successful if and only if they can determine the sufficient conditions which give rise to the feeling, symptom, or behavioral pattern in question.
Highlights
By contrast, according to her view this is not the case for causal explanations in the sciences, where the list of boundary conditions is limited
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Psychoanalysis and Neuropsychoanalysis, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
I claimed that psychoanalytic explanations— likescientific explanations—are successful if and only if they can determine the sufficient conditions which give rise to the feeling, symptom, or behavioral pattern in question
Summary
By contrast, according to her view this is not the case for causal explanations in the sciences, where the list of boundary conditions is limited. As we will see below, explanations in cellular neurosciences, cognitive neurosciences and psychoanalysis may refer to representations, and this is not a distinguishing property between neuroscientific and psychoanalytic explanations.
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