Programme

The course provides an overview to the debate on the use of neuroscientific (and in particular functional magnetic resonance imaging) data to reform the ontology of the mental. The first part offers a historical introduction to debates on the metaphysics of the mental in philosophy of mind, in the foundations of experimental psychology and in the (proto-)history of cognitive neuroscience. A second part offers a historical-epistemological introduction to cognitive neuroscience, with a special emphasis on the uses (and abuses) of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Building on these introductory themes, the issue of the uncertainty of psychological categories (the cognitive ontology) and how neuroscience can enable them to be revised will be addressed. This will be addressed in the third and most substantial part of the course, in which different approaches to reforming cognitive ontology will be examined.
In the fourth and utmost part of the course, some case studies will be examined, such as the neural correlates of basic emotions or the Fusiform Facial Area.

Core Documentation

For attendees: the following papers:
* Viola, M. (2017). Carving mind at brain’s joints. The debate on cognitive ontology. Phenomenology and Mind, (12), 162-172.
* Viola, M. (2021). Beyond the Platonic Brain: facing the challenge of individual differences in function-structure mapping. Synthese, 199(1-2), 2129-2155.
* Poldrack, R. A. (2010). Mapping mental function to brain structure: how can cognitive neuroimaging succeed?. Perspectives on psychological science, 5(6), 753-761.
* McCaffrey, J. B. (2023). Evolving Concepts of Functional Localization. Philosophy Compass, e12914.
* (other papers may be communicated during the lessons)

For non-attendees: papers + 2 books between 2, 3, 4, and 5 -- please send an email to the professor
2) Michael Anderson (2014). After Phrenology. Neural Reuse and the Interactive Brain. MIT Press.
3) Russell Poldrack (2018). The New Mind Readers: What Neuroimaging Can and Cannot Reveal about Our Thoughts. Princeton Press.
4) Muhammad Ali Khalidi (2023). Cognitive Ontology. Cambridge University Press.
5) Luiz Pessoa (2022). The Entangled Brain: How Perception, Cognition, and Emotion Are Woven Together. The MIT Press.

Reference Bibliography

Anderson, M. L. (2010). Neural reuse: A fundamental organizational principle of the brain. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(4), 245–266. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X10000853 Anderson, M. L. (2015). Mining the Brain for a New Taxonomy of the Mind: A new Taxonomy of the Mind. Philosophy Compass, 10(1), 68–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12155 Burnston, D. C. (2016). A contextualist approach to functional localization in the brain. Biology and Philosophy, 31(4), 527–550. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-016-9526-2 De Brigard, F. (2017). Cognitive systems and the changing brain. Philosophical Explorations, 20(2), 224–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/13869795.2017.1312503 De Wit, M. M., & Matheson, H. E. (2022). Context-sensitive computational mechanistic explanation in cognitive neuroscience. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 903960. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.903960 Edelman, G. M., & Gally, J. A. (2001). Degeneracy and complexity in biological systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(24), 13763–13768. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.231499798 Figdor, C. (2010). Neuroscience and the Multiple Realization of Cognitive Functions. Philosophy of Science, 77(3), 419–456. https://doi.org/10.1086/652964 Fodor, J. (1974). The disunity of science as a working hypothesis. Synthese, 28(2), 97–115. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00485230 Haueis, P. (2018). Beyond cognitive myopia: a patchwork approach to the concept of neural function. Synthese, 195(12), 5373–5402. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-018-01991-z Haxby, J. V., Connolly, A. C., & Guntupalli, J. S. (2014). Decoding neural representational spaces using multivariate pattern analysis. Annual review of neuroscience, 37, 435-456. Klein, C. (2012). Cognitive Ontology and Region- versus Network-Oriented Analyses. Philosophy of Science, 79(5), 952–960. https://doi.org/10.1086/667843 McCaffrey, J. B. (2015). The Brain’s Heterogeneous Functional Landscape. Philosophy of Science, 82(5), 1010–1022. https://doi.org/10.1086/683436 Mundale, J. (2002). Concepts of localization: Balkanization in the brain. Brain and Mind, 3(3), 313–330. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022912227833 Poldrack, R. (2006). Can cognitive processes be inferred from neuroimaging data? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(2), 59–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2005.12.004 Price, C. J., & Friston, K. J. (2005). Functional ontologies for cognition: The systematic definition of structure and function. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 22(3–4), 262–275. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643290442000095 Seghier, M. L., & Price, C. J. (2018). Interpreting and Utilising Intersubject Variability in Brain Function. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(6), 517–530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.03.003 Viola, M., & Zanin, E. (2017). The standard ontological framework of cognitive neuroscience: Some lessons from Broca’s area. Philosophical Psychology, 30(7), 945–969. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2017.1322193 Ward, Z. B. (2022). Cognitive Variation: The Philosophical Landscape. Philosophy Compass, 17(10), e12882. https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12882

Type of delivery of the course

The course includes: - Frontal lectures; - Student presentations and discussion of lecture content in class; - Some guests lectures pertaining to the topics covered in the course.

Attendance

Attendance is optional but strongly recommended

Type of evaluation

Oral exam. Erasmus students may choose to be examined in either English or Italian, as they prefer. For those attending, a portion of the exam may be on the content of a short written paper (3000 to 5000 words all inclusive) on a topic to be conroded with the lecturer. The paper should be shared via e-mail with the lecturer at least 14 days before the oral examination date.