Historical considerations on brain and self

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511489907.004

2 - Historical considerations on brain and self

from Part I - The mind, brain, and education triad

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009

Edited by

Kurt W. Fischer and

Fernando Vidal: Affiliation:
Max Plank Institute for the History of Science Berlin
Antonio M. Battro: Affiliation:
National Academy of Education, Argentina
Kurt W. Fischer: Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
Pierre J. Léna: Affiliation:
Université de Paris VII (Denis Diderot)

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Summary

Overview

This chapter explores some historical developments concerning ideas about the connection between brain and self, and suggests that they constitute the background – and, indeed, the historical and intellectual conditions of possibility – for projects, such as the one that inspires this volume on the “educated brain,” aimed at integrating the neurosciences with (or into) traditional areas of the human sciences. Such integration can be conceived of in reductionistic terms (the area in question, e.g. education or psychoanalysis, is to be entirely reformed on the basis of neuroscientific knowledge, and to be made dependent on advancements in the neurosciences), or in more collaborative terms (the human sciences maintain their epistemic and methodological independence, but are to be enriched and partially modified by available neuroscientific information). If the neurosciences seem so crucial, it is ultimately because – beyond what is relevant for each area of application or cooperation – they show the extent to which the brain is a fundamental organ for the constitution of human personhood. The author suggests, however, that the significance which the neurosciences have gained is, at least in part, dependent on the belief that one's own brain is the only organ each of us needs in order to be himself or herself. Such a belief is obviously supported by neuroscientific findings, but did not originate in them; on the contrary, it precedes modern knowledge of the brain. This might sound counterintuitive, but if it is indeed the case, then history should help us understand the roots, as well as the implicit values and beliefs of contemporary enthusiasm about the consequences of the neurosciences for other disciplines.

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Type: Chapter
Information: The Educated Brain
Essays in Neuroeducation
, pp. 20 - 42

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489907.004 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2008

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