Brain-Mind
From Neurons to Consciousness and Creativity
Published on 13. October 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
338 pages
978-0-19-761859-2 (ISBN)
Description
How do brains make minds? Paul Thagard presents a unified, brain-based theory of cognition and emotion with applications to the most complex kinds of thinking, right up to consciousness and creativity. Neural mechanisms are used to explain mental operations for analogy, action, intention, language, and the self.
Brain-Mind develops a brilliant account of mental operations using promising new ideas from theoretical neuroscience. Single neurons cannot do much by themselves, but groups of neurons work together to accomplish powerful kinds of mental representation, including concepts, images, and rules.
Minds enable people to perceive, imagine, solve problems, understand, learn, speak, reason, create, and be emotional and conscious. Competing explanations of how the mind works have identified it as soul, computer, brain, dynamical system, or social construction. This book explains minds in terms of interacting mechanisms operating at multiple levels, including the social, mental, neural, and molecular. Unification comes from systematic application of Chris Eliasmith's powerful Semantic Pointer Architecture, a highly original synthesis of neural network and symbolic ideas about how the mind works.
This book belongs to a trio that includes Mind-Society: From Brains to Social Sciences and Professions and Natural Philosophy: From Social Brains to Knowledge, Reality, Morality, and Beauty. They can be read independently, but together they make up a Treatise on Mind and Society that provides a unified and comprehensive treatment of the cognitive sciences, social sciences, professions, and humanities.
Brain-Mind develops a brilliant account of mental operations using promising new ideas from theoretical neuroscience. Single neurons cannot do much by themselves, but groups of neurons work together to accomplish powerful kinds of mental representation, including concepts, images, and rules.
Minds enable people to perceive, imagine, solve problems, understand, learn, speak, reason, create, and be emotional and conscious. Competing explanations of how the mind works have identified it as soul, computer, brain, dynamical system, or social construction. This book explains minds in terms of interacting mechanisms operating at multiple levels, including the social, mental, neural, and molecular. Unification comes from systematic application of Chris Eliasmith's powerful Semantic Pointer Architecture, a highly original synthesis of neural network and symbolic ideas about how the mind works.
This book belongs to a trio that includes Mind-Society: From Brains to Social Sciences and Professions and Natural Philosophy: From Social Brains to Knowledge, Reality, Morality, and Beauty. They can be read independently, but together they make up a Treatise on Mind and Society that provides a unified and comprehensive treatment of the cognitive sciences, social sciences, professions, and humanities.
Reviews / Votes
With his deep background in cognitive science and philosophy of mind, Thagard is able to sketch a bird's eye view of the mind-encompassing cognition, emotion, and consciousness-while staying grounded in a computational theory of neural organization." * Keith J. Holyoak, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles* Paul Thagard's Brain-Mind is an extremely ambitious attempt (largely successful, I believe), to provide a unified, neurally-based, account of how the Brain creates the Mind. Using Chris Eliasmith's Semantic Pointer Architecture and related ideas, Thagard shows how all the various aspects of the mind from lower level phenomena, such as Perception, to the highest levels of cognition, such as Language and the Self, can be realized in terms of a set of unifying principles based on the Semantic Pointer Architecture and its grounding in neural mechanisms. It provides a strong intellectual foundation for the even more ambitious other volumes (Mind-Society and Natural Philosophy) of his three-volume Treatise on Mind and Society. Thagard takes us on a mind-expanding journey." * Stephen Read, Mendel B. Silberberg Professor of Social Psychology, University of Southern California
* A readable overview of the philosophy of cognitive science and its goal of establishing mechanistic or computational models of cognition and emotion." * Choice *
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Adult education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
515 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-761859-2 (9780197618592)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2019
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€22.49
Available for download
E-Book
01/2019
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€22.49
Available for download
Person
Paul Thagard is a distinguished philosopher and cognitive scientist who has written many books, including The Brain and the Meaning of Life (Princeton University Press, 2010) and The Cognitive Science of Science (MIT Press, 2012). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Cognitive Science Society, and the Association for Psychological Science.
Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. What are Minds?
Why Minds Matter
What are Minds?
Cognitive Science
Representations and Processes
Mechanisms
Looking Ahead
Summary
Notes to Chapter 1: Minds
2. How Brains Make Minds
Why Brains Matter to Mind and Society
Thinking with Cells
Neurons
Neural Groups
Combining Neural Representations
Semantic Pointers
The Semantic Pointer Architecture
Innateness versus Learning
Summary and Discussion
Appendix: Details and Comparisons
Notes to Chapter 2: Brains
3. Perception and Imagery
Why Perception and Imagery Matter to Mind and Society
From Sensation to Perception to Imagery
External Senses
Internal Senses
Imagery
Mental Mechanisms for Imagery
Neural Mechanisms for Imagery
Uses of Imagery
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 3: Perception
4. Concepts
Why Concepts Matter to Mind and Society
Theories of Concepts
Neural Mechanisms for Concepts
Uses of Concepts
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 4: Concepts
5. Rules
Why Rules Matter to Mind and Society
Mental Mechanisms for Rules
Neural Mechanisms for Rules
Uses of Rules
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 5: Rules
6. Analogies
Why Analogies Matter to Mind and Society
Mental Mechanisms for Analogy
Neural Mechanisms for Analogy
Uses of Analogies
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 6: Analogies
7. Emotions
Why Emotions Matter to Mind and Society
Psychological Theories of Emotion
Neural Mechanisms for Emotions
Uses of Emotions
How Emotions Change
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 7: Emotions
8. Consciousness
Why Consciousness Matters to Mind and Society
Psychological Theories of Consciousness
Neural Mechanisms for Consciousness
Uses of Consciousness
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 8: Consciousness
9. Action and Intention
Why Actions Matter to Mind and Society
Psychological Theories of Action, Intention, and Will
Neural Mechanisms for Action and Intention
Uses of Action and Intention
The Will
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 9: Action
10. Language
Why Language Matters to Mind and Society
Syntax First: Chomsky
Integrating Syntax, Semantics, and Phonology
Meaning
Conceptual Blending
Metaphor
Innateness and Language Learning
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 10: Language
11. Creativity
Why Creativity Matters to Mind and Society
What is Creativity?
Images
Concepts
Rules
Procedural Creativity
Analogies and Metaphors
Emotions
Case Study: CRISPR/Cas9
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 11: Creativity
12. The Self
Why the Self Matters to Mind and Society
What is the Self?
Semantic Pointers for Self-Representation
Semantic Pointer Mechanisms for Self-Effecting and Self-Changing
Multilevel Systems
Molecular Mechanisms
Social Mechanisms
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 12: Self
References
Index
Acknowledgments
1. What are Minds?
Why Minds Matter
What are Minds?
Cognitive Science
Representations and Processes
Mechanisms
Looking Ahead
Summary
Notes to Chapter 1: Minds
2. How Brains Make Minds
Why Brains Matter to Mind and Society
Thinking with Cells
Neurons
Neural Groups
Combining Neural Representations
Semantic Pointers
The Semantic Pointer Architecture
Innateness versus Learning
Summary and Discussion
Appendix: Details and Comparisons
Notes to Chapter 2: Brains
3. Perception and Imagery
Why Perception and Imagery Matter to Mind and Society
From Sensation to Perception to Imagery
External Senses
Internal Senses
Imagery
Mental Mechanisms for Imagery
Neural Mechanisms for Imagery
Uses of Imagery
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 3: Perception
4. Concepts
Why Concepts Matter to Mind and Society
Theories of Concepts
Neural Mechanisms for Concepts
Uses of Concepts
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 4: Concepts
5. Rules
Why Rules Matter to Mind and Society
Mental Mechanisms for Rules
Neural Mechanisms for Rules
Uses of Rules
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 5: Rules
6. Analogies
Why Analogies Matter to Mind and Society
Mental Mechanisms for Analogy
Neural Mechanisms for Analogy
Uses of Analogies
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 6: Analogies
7. Emotions
Why Emotions Matter to Mind and Society
Psychological Theories of Emotion
Neural Mechanisms for Emotions
Uses of Emotions
How Emotions Change
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 7: Emotions
8. Consciousness
Why Consciousness Matters to Mind and Society
Psychological Theories of Consciousness
Neural Mechanisms for Consciousness
Uses of Consciousness
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 8: Consciousness
9. Action and Intention
Why Actions Matter to Mind and Society
Psychological Theories of Action, Intention, and Will
Neural Mechanisms for Action and Intention
Uses of Action and Intention
The Will
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 9: Action
10. Language
Why Language Matters to Mind and Society
Syntax First: Chomsky
Integrating Syntax, Semantics, and Phonology
Meaning
Conceptual Blending
Metaphor
Innateness and Language Learning
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 10: Language
11. Creativity
Why Creativity Matters to Mind and Society
What is Creativity?
Images
Concepts
Rules
Procedural Creativity
Analogies and Metaphors
Emotions
Case Study: CRISPR/Cas9
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 11: Creativity
12. The Self
Why the Self Matters to Mind and Society
What is the Self?
Semantic Pointers for Self-Representation
Semantic Pointer Mechanisms for Self-Effecting and Self-Changing
Multilevel Systems
Molecular Mechanisms
Social Mechanisms
Summary and Discussion
Notes to Chapter 12: Self
References
Index