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The Brain's “New” Science: Psychology, Neurophysiology, and Constraint

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Gary Hatfield
Gary Hatfield*
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
*
†Send requests for reprints to the author, Department of Philosophy, 433 Logan Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304.
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Abstract

There is a strong philosophical intuition that direct study of the brain can and will constrain the development of psychological theory. When this intuition is tested against case studies on the neurophysiology and psychology of perception and memory, it turns out that psychology has led the way toward knowledge of neurophysiology. An abstract argument is developed to show that psychology can and must lead the way in neuroscientific study of mental function. The opposing intuition is based on mainly weak arguments about the fundamentality or objectivity of physics or physiology in relation to psychology.

Type
Philosophy of Biology, Psychology, and Neuroscience
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 67 , Issue S3: Supplement. Proceedings of the 1998 Biennial Meetings of the Philosophy of Science Association. Part II: Symposia Papers Sep., 2000 , 2000 , pp. S388 - S403
Copyright
Copyright © 2000 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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