Mechanism and Philosophy of Psychology

In its pragmatic project, empirical psychology employs metaphors to interpret data and deliver descriptive explanations.[i] Insofar as it is a positivist project, empirical psychology pursues reductive explanations which have the semblance of taking phenomena designated by natural language to be composed of more ‘real’ elements. Reductive descriptions of complex systems …

The Pragmatic Use of Metaphor in Empirical Psychology

In this post, I explore how analogical modes of explanation have been used in empirical psychology to loop together data derived through experiments and descriptive explanation. Metaphor has been used to transcend the limitations of experiments on human subjects because it allows for framing higher-level interpretation of data through notions …

Patricia Churchland to livestream “Brain mechanisms and the platform for morality” February 25th

The next Neural Mechanisms Online webinar— “Brain mechanisms and the platform for morality”—will be delivered by Patricia Churchland on Friday the 25th. See below for details about the free talk and how to join.

Unthinkable Pasts and Undreamable Futures: A Role of History for Scientists

I am not a historian. This thought did not occur to me when I set out three years ago to write a book about my field of computational neuroscience, but it has occurred to me many times since. I knew I wanted the book be more than just be a …

Closing Conference of Duke’s Summer Seminars in Neuroscience and Philosophy on June 4 and 5

We are excited to share information about the Closing Conference of the 2021 Summer Seminars in Neuroscience and Philosophy (SSNAP) with you! This is 2-day event featuring keynote addresses from leading researchers in neuroscience and philosophy will be shared remotely from 12-3pm EDT on June 4 and June 5. They …

John Bickle with livestream “Tinkering in the lab” on Feb 5

We are excited about the next Neural Mechanisms webinar this Friday. As always, it is free. You can find information about how and when to join the webinar below or at the Neural Mechanisms website—where you can also join sign up for the mailing list that notifies people about upcoming …

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