Intellectual history and modern brain science

Abstract

Abstract Extract If there is one area of current intellectual life that feels without need of history, it is neuroscience and its allies in cognitive science and artificial intelligence (AI). Some scientists believe, even aggressively, that new research makes out of date any reference to mind, self, will, or consciousness as explanatory categories in their own right. The persistent use of these terms to describe states or realities, these scientists suggest, shows the regrettable power of habit and convention in everyday psychology. They would find strange or alien the idea that social science and history are essential sources of knowledge about ourselves, independent of the natural sciences. Perhaps I exaggerate. But many natural scientists would surely think that intellectual history, however interesting, is marginal to the project of understanding human nature.