‘The brain begins to seem
like a magic box, a font of
sorcery…how can sending an
electric current into a bunch
of cells produce conscious
experience?
What do electricity and cells
have to do with conscious
subjectivity? How could a
conscious self exist inside
such a soggy clump?’
- Colin McGinn, The Mysterious
Flame
What does Neuroscience tell us
about:
❄Whether the mind is simply
the brain
❄Whether we are free
❄Survived accident in
which a large iron rod
went totally through his
head
❄Destroyed much of his
left frontal lobe
❄Subsequent personality
changes (?)
Mind
Brain
Personality
Brain part
“Modern neuroscience has
shown that there is no
user.
‘The soul’ is, in fact, the
information-processing
activity of the brain.”
1. Changes to the brain cause
changes in the mind
Evidence from
Neuroscience
1. If (1) is true, then the mind
is reducible to the brain.
Obvious
1. Therefore, the mind is the
brain.
1. Changes to the weather cause
changes in your lifestyle.
1. If (1) is true, then your lifestyle is
reducible to the weather.
1. Therefore, your lifestyle is the
weather.
1. Changes to the brain cause
changes in the mind
Evidence from
Neuroscience
1. If (1) is true, then the mind
is reducible to the brain.
Obvious
1. Therefore, the mind is the
brain.
Causal link
doesn’t entail
identity of
linked entities
1. Everything about the mind
can be explained in terms of
the brain.
2. If (1) is true, then the mind is
reducible to the brain.
3. Therefore, the mind is the
brain.
Evidence
from
Neuroscience
Simplicity
Everything about the
mind can be
explained in terms of
the brain.
Everything about
you can be explained
in terms of the
weather.
The mind is affected
by the brain
You are affected by
the weather.
Physical changes to
brain
Thinking, feeling, etc
My Soul
Immaterial substance capable
of thinking, feeling, etc
What seems to be
What is
Memory is a
single unified
phenomenon
Many different
memory systems
that can be
disassociated
with one another
What seems to be
Memory is a
single unified
conscious
experience
What is
Many different,
detachable memory
systems at the
neural level
Is there really a conflict?
❄Easy problem
❊Correlation between mental
states & brain states
❄Hard problem
❊How the mind is just the
brain
❊Laws explaining correlation
❊Origin of mind
1. If I have the property P, but my
body lacks the property P, then
I am not the same thing as my
body.
2. I have the property P, but my
body lacks the property P.
3. Therefore, I am not the same
thing as my body.
Diversity of
Discernibles
Reflection
Conclusion
No apparent physical
properties
Length, mass, texture
Intentionality
No apparent intentionality
Privileged access
No privileged access
Logically possible to
exist without the
physical
Logically impossible
to exist without the
physical
❄“Can Neurobiology Teach Us
Anything About
Consciousness?” (Churchland)
❄“The Puzzle of Conscious
Experience” (Chalmers)
❄“The Mysterious Flame”
(McGinn)
Circumstances
Agent
Intention
Circumstances
Agent
Intention
“Incline without necessitating”
❄Deliberation indicates we have the power to
choose
❄Therefore, it is reasonable to think we have
the power to choose, unless we have reason
to think otherwise
General
observations of
behavioural
patterns
The findings of
neuroscience and
cognitive
psychology
❄Strong correlation between
circumstances & behaviour
Hume:
“Everyone acknowledges that
there is much uniformity
among the actions of men in all
nations and ages, and that
human nature remains the same
in its forces and operations.”
“If an intimate friend of mine,
whom I know to be honest and
wealthy, comes into my house
where I am surrounded by my
servants, I rest assured that he
isn’t going to stab me before he
leaves, in order to rob me of my
silver ink-well;
and I no more suspect such
behaviour from him than I expect
the collapse of the house itself
which is new, solidly built, and
well founded.”
❄We can understand behaviour by
understanding
background/circumstances?
❄Are we subject to psychological laws?
❄If we know all the relevant information,
can we be certain of how someone will
behave?
Within 30 seconds, wriggle
your finger whenever you
choose. Don’t plan in
advance.
Watch the clock and note
when you chose to wriggle
your finger.
 Libet and others
❄Steady increase in brain
conclude that
activity (RP) consistently
conscious will is not
preceded the time the
the
initiator
of
agents cited as when they
voluntary acting
experienced the will to
 Instead it is a
move.
consequence of an
❄On average, RP preceded
unconscious
the ‘experience of will’ by
physical process
some 500 milliseconds.
that triggers the
action.
"The timing of will, finally,
seems to seal the fate of that
elusive light bulb. The detailed
analytical studies of the timing
of action indicate that
conscious will does not
precede brain events leading to
spontaneous voluntary action
but rather follows them.”
-Daniel Wegner, The Illusion of
Conscious Will
I make a
choice.
My brain
responds.
My body
responds.
My brain
determines
my choice.
My brain gives me
the experience of
making my choice.
My body
responds.
❄Deliberate: Sleep or Exercise?
❄You believe:
• that you can sleep or exercise
• It is within your control whether
you choose to sleep or exercise
It is not. Already determined by
brain :(
Willing to X
Experience of
willing to X
Having the
urge to X
Having urge = Will
Will = Experience of will
❄Will to wriggle finger was exercised when
joining experiment
❄“Urge, desire, will, intention”
❄Intention to wriggle finger when urge is
detected
In passive state, no actual choice
made
❄What should we expect to see if our
experience of willing is accurate?
❄Consciousness is linked to the brain
❄Priming for decision?
❊Break in causal chain may not result in break
in brain activity
The empirical findings are inconclusive?
Empirical information
needs conceptual
processing.
After the empirical,
comes the philosophical
❄ Delgado discovered that
stimulating various regions of
the brain could cause all sorts of
bodily motions
❊ Including frowning, the opening
and closing of the eyes, and
movements of the head, arms, legs
and fingers…
❄How do you think you would
react when your brain is
stimulated by a scientist?
❄ Not only did they act out the movements
without surprise or fear, but they also
produced reasons for them.
❄ Example:
❊Electrical stimulation of the brain produced
“head turning and slow displacement of the
body to either side with a well-oriented and
apparently normal sequence, as if the patient
were looking for something.”
❊Repeated six times over two days, with
similar outcomes
❄ The subject, who did not know
about the stimulation,
considered the activity
spontaneous and offered
reasons for it.
❄ When asked “What are you
doing?” he would reply, “I am
looking for my slippers,” “I
heard a noise,” “I am restless,”
or “I was looking under the
bed.”
❄Evidence for freedom based on experience
❄But manipulation could produce the same
experience
(1) Same experience indeed?
(2) Even so, what does this prove?
❄Subject experience movement as
voluntary although it was due to brain
stimulation
❊Consistent correlation
❊Not surprised at movement
❊Offered reasons for movement
❄Not voluntary
❊But participants tend to rationalise actions to
make sense of movement
❊Confused reflex action with voluntary action
❄Actually voluntary
❊Brain stimulation lead to strong desire which
subject acted on
❊Evidence not conclusive
❄Evidence for freedom based on experience
❄But manipulation could produce the same
experience
(1) Same experience indeed?
(2) Even so, what does this prove?
❄Sensation of will can be produced, but
need not always be this way?
❊E.g. brain stimulation can cause us to have
perception of objects
❊Doesn’t prove all perceptions are inaccurate
❊Rational to take perception as accurate unless
we have reason to think otherwise?