IS NEUROPHILOSOPHY REDUCTIONIST OR ELIMINATIVIST?

Abstract

Neurophilosophy is sometimes regarded as reductionist, other times eliminativist. It is routinely said to be both reductionist and eliminativist. The underlying assumption is possibly this: If a theory or a category is being reduced, then that theory is denied to be accurate, or that category is denied to exist. The theory or the category, thus, is eliminated from our scientific repertory. However, that something is being reduced does not imply that that thing is being eliminated at all. On the contrary, its reduction acknowledges its existence. Therefore, in this work, I argue that calling neurophilosophy both reductionist and eliminativist is fundamentally misleading. To eliminate this mistaken view, I offer that we should call neurophilosophy revisionary and unificatory materialism instead of reductionist and eliminative materialism.

Keywords

• neurophilosophy
• eliminativism
• reductionism
• Churchland
• folk psychology

NÖROFELSEFE İNDİRGEMECİ Mİ YOKSA ELEYİCİ MİDİR?

Öz

Nörofelsefe denilen akım felsefeciler tarafından bazen indirgemeci, bazen eleyici ama çoğunlukla hem indirgemeci hem eleyici olarak nitelenir. Bunun kuvvetle muhtemel gerekçesi eleştirmenlerin itirazlarının altında yatan şu varsayımdır: Bir kuram veya ona içkin varlık kategorisi indirgeniyorsa, artık o varlık yok sayılmaktadır ve bilimsel terminolojimizden elenmektedir. Halbuki bir şeyin indirgenmesi hiçbir şekilde onun varlığının inkarı değil aksine ilanıdır. İşte bu nedenle, bu çalışmada ben, nörofelsefenin indirgemeci ve eleyici materyalizm olarak adlandırılmasının son derece yanıltıcı sonuçlar yarattığını ve bu olumsuz sonuçlardan kurtulmanın yolunun, birkaç defa kendilerinin önerdiği gibi, Churchland tipi nörofelsefeyi nitelemek için birleştirici ve yenileyici materyalizm ifadesinin kullanılması gerektiğini savunacağım.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• nörofelsefe
• eleyicilik
• indirgemecilik
• Churchland
• halk psikolojisi

Kaynakça

1. Alıcı, Tevfik, Gerçek Bir Yanılsama. Bilinç (İstanbul: Metis, 2013)
2. Bechtel, William, ve Andrew Hamilton, “Reduction, Integration, and the Unity of Science”, içinde Handbook of the Philosophy of Science: General Philosophy of Science - Focal Issues, ed. Theo A.F. Kuipers, 2007, ss. 377–430
3. Bickle, John, Psychoneural Reduction: the new wave (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. A Bradford Book, 1998)
4. ———, “Revisionary physicalism”, Biology and Philosophy, 7.4 (1992), 411–30
5. Bickle, John, Peter Mandik, ve Anthony Landreth, “The Philosophy of Neuroscience”, ed. Edward N. Zalta, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2012
6. Churchland, Patricia Smith, Brain-wise : studies in neurophilosophy (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002)
7. ———, Braintrust: What neuroscience tells us about morality (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011)
8. ———, “Neurophilosophy: The Early Years and New Directions”, Functional Neurology, 22.4 (2007), 185–95

9. ———, Neurophilosophy: toward a unified science of the mind-brain (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986)
10. Churchland, Paul M, Bilimsel Gerçekçilik ve Zihnin Esnekliği, çev. Ekrem Berkay Ersöz (İstanbul: Alfa Bilim, 2013)
11. ———, “Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes”, Journal of Philosophy, 78.2 (1981), 67–90
12. ———, Madde ve Bilinç: zihin felsefesine güncel bir bakış, çev. Berkay Ersöz (İstanbul: Alfa, 2012)
13. Dawkins, Richard, Gen Bencildir, çev. Asuman Müftüoğlu (Tübitak Yayınları, 2007)
14. Ladyman, James, ve Don Ross, ed., Every thing must go. Metaphysics naturalized (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2007)
15. Mölder, Bruno, ve Patricia Smith Churchland, “‘Neuroscience is Relevant for Philosophy’”, Problemos, 88 (2015), 176–86
16. Northoff, Georg, “What is neurophilosophy? A methodological account”, Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 35, 2004, 91–127
17. Paris Albert, Sonia, I. Comins Mingol, ve J. Roda Bruc, “Epistemological and Anthropological Thoughts on Neurophilosophy: An Initial Framework”, Recerca: Revista De Pensament I Analisi, 13.5 (2013), 63–83
18. Pinker, Steven, The Blank Slate: the modern denial of human nature (London: Penguin Books, 2003)
19. Ramsey, William, “Eliminative Materialism”, ed. Edward N. Zalta, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2013
20. Rockwell, W. Teed, “Eliminativism”, ed. Eric Hochstein, Dictionary of the Philosophy of Mind, 2014
21. Sachdev, Perminder S., “Neuropsychiatry and neurophilosophy”, Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 19.3 (2007), 136–38
22. Sarıhan, Işık, “Philosophical puzzles evade empirical evidence: Some thoughts and clarifications regarding the relation between brain sciences and philosophy of mind”, içinde Human Sciences after the Decade of the Brain, ed. J Leefman ve Hildt E (San Diego, CA: Elsevier, 2017)
23. Sayan, Erdinç, “Analitik Zihin Felsefesinin Temel Problemlerine Bir Bakış”, Kaygı Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi, 19, 2012, 37–54
24. Solymosi, Tibor, “Neuropragmatism, Old and New”, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 10.3 (2011), 347–68
25. Suhler, Christopher L, ve Patricia Smith Churchland, “Control: conscious and otherwise.”, Trends in cognitive sciences, 13.8 (2009), 341–47
26. Tura, Saffet Murat, Beynin Gölgeleri. Bir Psikiyatri Felsefesi (İstanbul: Metis, 2016)
27. Vasiliev, Vadim, “Neurophilosophy on the way of solving problems. Interview with Patricia Churchland in Moscow” (Russia: Youtube, 2015)