On Point with Tom Ashbrook
Originally published July 22, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Brain chemistry and the self. Neurophilosopher Patricia Churchland argues our self is our brain. And that’s it. She joins us.
When Galileo took Earth out of the center of the universe, it shook a lot of people’s worlds. Patricia Churchland wants to shake worlds again. She studies the brain and philosophy. A “neurophilosopher”.
And her message is this. That the more we know about the brain, the clearer it becomes that the brain is each of us. That there is no “mind” beyond the brain. No “self” beyond it. No soul, she says. She knows that rocks world now. She’s here to make the case.
This hour, On Point: neurophilosopher Patricia Churchland on the brain as all we are.
The audio file is here.
A Note about this post: Dr. Churchland puts forth a materialistic and reductionist theory of the brain, consciousness, and how human beings function. This story is not posted for because its truth value. The story is to show folks what some philosophers are talking about and thinking about the brain, consciousness, cognition, and human functioning.