Neurophilosophy: Self, Science and Society

Neurophilosophy is a relatively young and thriving field of interdisciplinary research, which explores the relevance of recent developments in neuroscience for traditional philosophical questions about human nature. At the same time, it seeks to clarify the methods and results of neuroscience using the conceptual rigor and methods of philosophy. This summer course focuses on four central topics in neurophilosophy:

Cognitive Enhancement: Implications for Self and Personal Identity
Neuroscience increasingly allows us to manipulate and alter brain processes. This form of cognitive enhancement holds great promise, but also raises philosophical questions and ethical challenges. Pim Haselager (cognitive neuroscience) discusses the use of brain stimulation techniques in clinical practice and the court of law. Leon de Bruin (philosophy) focuses on the implications of cognitive enhancement for our common sense notion of self and personal identity.
Levels of Explanation and Folk Psychological Concepts in Neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience often makes claims about the mind that contradict common sense psychological vocabulary. Jolien Francken (neuroscience) will demonstrate this contradiction. Marc Slors (philosophy) will then discuss various solutions to the mind-body problem and argue that only positions that abandon a thorough going mental realism can deal with the situation. Iris van Rooij (cognitive science) discusses the problematic nature of the very notion of ‘explanation’ in cognitive science. Finally, Jeroen Geurts (neuroscience) responds to these lectures from the viewpoint of clinical neuroscientific studies.
Phenomenological Perspectives on the Self
Phenomenology and neuroscience influence each other in different ways. Julian Kiverstein (philosophy) elaborates on how phenomenological insights into the experience of self are borne out by neuroscience. Sanneke de Haan (psychiatry) and Erik Rietveld (philosophy) show how phenomenological analyses of the perception of our environments can be used to analyse changes in experience induced by deep brain stimulation. Finally, Marc Lewis (neuroscience) will explain how neuroscience helps to understand the phenomenology of addictive craving.
Psychiatry and Mental Disorder
Developments in neuroscience can help to further our understanding of mental disorders, but also raise the question to what extent mental disorders can be explained in terms of neurobiological processes. Derek Strijbos (psychiatry, philosophy) deals with the implications of these developments on our understanding of mental disorders, focussing on conceptual questions about causation and levels of explanation. Gerrit Glas (psychiatry, philosophy) discusses the impact of neuroscience on the psychiatric concept of the self. Finally, Sanneke de Haan (psychiatry) investigates the tension between neuroscientific and experiential aspects of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

After the course you will give a presentation on one of the topics of the course and write a two page rapport on the relevance of the course for your own work or studies.

Learning outcomes
After this course you will be able to ask philosophical questions about the implications of recent neuro-scientific developments, in particular in connection with the topics of the course.

Entry level

Master
PhD
Post-doc
Professional

Admission requirements
A Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Neuroscience, Psychology or other relevant discipline

Admission documents

A letter of motivation
A Curriculum Vitae

Dates
Monday 10 August – Friday 14 August 2015

Course leader
Dr Leon de Bruin
Ass. Professor Philosphy of Mind and Language
Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies
Radboud University

Course fee
€400 Master’s students and PhD candidates
€600 other participants
The course fee includes the registration fee, course materials, access to library and IT facilities, coffee/tea, lunch, and a number of social activities. The fee does not include accommodation, travel costs, dinner, insurance and other costs. There are a limited amount of partial scholarships available for master and PhD students.

Discounts

10% discount for early bird applicants. The early bird deadline is 1 April 2015.
15% discount for students and PhD candidates from Radboud University and partner universities

Number of ECTS credits
2 EC