Fabbro F. Biological and Neuroscientific Foundations of Philosophy: Towards a New Paradigm

London: Routledge, 2023. — 233 p.Biological and Neuroscientific Foundations of Philosophy is an authoritative text addressing both academicians and students, and it proposes an integrated and holistic view of scientific study and presents a new paradigm by which to study philosophy. It highlights, in a systematic and sufficiently simple manner, the fundamental role of neuroscience, neuropsychology and biology within philosophical reflection.
Written by an expert in neuroscience, the book draws together different strands of study to explore how scientific and neuropsychological discoveries are integral to the study of philosophy and our understanding of mind. It argues to move away from a philosophical paradigm that is based solely within physics and mathematics and to embrace more complex frames of data and knowledge of psychology and biology to advance the discipline. The book also reflects on the symbolic dimensions and the concept of "information" that characterize DNA (biology), and the psyche and language (cognitive and social neuroscience). It offers an ambitious thesis that ties together the philosophical foundations of science, the evolutionary history of human beings, social organization, communication and consciousness.
This interdisciplinary work will be highly beneficial for researchers and postgraduate students of neuroscience, philosophy and biological sciences, as well as those interested in the intersection between philosophy and neuroscience.Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Physico-Mathematical Paradigm
The Role of Biology
The Place of Humans in Nature
The Enigmatic Nature of Information
The Symbolic Nature of DNA, Mind and Language
Two General Objectives
Philosophical Foundations of Science
Origin of Modern Science
Matter, Energy, Space and Time
The Limits of Doing “Physics in a Box”
The Paradox of Quantum Mechanics
Ultimate Constituents of Matter
Nature of Elementary Particles
What Does It Mean to Know?
When Is a Theory Scientific?
Science Advances by Recognizing Its Errors
Concluding Remarks
The Tree of Life and the Origin of Knowledge
Chemical Components of Life
Main Forms of Unicellular Organisms
Protists
Fungi
Plants
Animals
Evolution of Nervous System
Origin of the Mind
Evolution of Consciousness
Concluding Remarks
The Evolutionary History of Human Beings
The First Hominids
Emergence of the Genus Homo
The Cosmopolitan Hominid
The Neanderthal Man
Origins of Homo Sapiens
The Exit to Africa of Modern Human Beings
Social Organization of Hominids
The Invention of Language
Concluding Remarks
Stages of Social Organization
Birth of Agriculture
Origin of the First Cities
The Invention of Calculation and Writing
From City-States to Empires
The Archaic Techniques of Social Control
Industrial and Technological Development
Modern Techniques of Information Dissemination and Control
The Question Concerning Technology
Concluding Remarks
The Nature of Communication and Information
Entropy and Information
Measuring Information
Two Types of Entropy
Symbols, Codes and Signs
Machines That Simulate Organisms
Exploratory Machines
Machines With Implicit Artificial Intelligence
Machines With Internal Imaginative States
Perspectives of Digital Philosophy
Concluding Remarks
DNA as a Symbolic Domain of Life
Structure of DNA
Structure of Protein
Transcription of DNA Into RNA
Translation of RNA Into Proteins
Symbolic Nature of the Genetic Code
“Diversity” as the Engine of Evolution
Towards a Philosophy of Organism
Concluding Remarks
Psyche as a Symbolic Domain of Imagination
Philosophical Conceptions of the Psyche
The Origin of Psychology as a Science
The Cognitive Sciences
Characteristics of Biological Intelligence
See, Imagine and Remember
The Internal Dynamic States
The Theory of Predictive Mind
The Psyche as a Symbolic System
Concluding Remarks
Language as a Symbolic Domain of Sharing
The Matter of Language
The Symbolic Structure of Language
The Syntax of Complex Vocal Sequences
Language and Memory
Language, Space and Time
What Is Language For?
Possibilities and Limits of Language
Thought and Language
Language, Knowledge and Ethics
Concluding Remarks
Conclusions
The Biological Foundations of Information
The Symbolic Dimension of the Psyche
Fallacious Arguments About the Nature of the Mind
The Symbolic System of Language
The Symbolic Nature of Life
Return to the Source of Problems
Final Remarks
Bibliography
Index