Touching a Nerve: The Self as Brain

Neurophilosophy is the interdisciplinary study of philosophy and neuroscience. Churchland (philosophy, emerita, Univ. of California, San Diego), a neurophilosopher, blends personal reflections, stories, science, and humor to create a somewhat meandering but very personable discourse on her subject. She shows how Einstein, Galileo, Darwin, Plato, and Spinoza's theories redefined how humans viewed both the universe and the self (i.e., their explorations had both scientific and philosophical effects). Churchland goes on to examine how new discoveries in neuroscience are likewise causing philosophy's traditional questions about faith, social attachment, choice, learning, morality, and the self to be reconsidered. Like a good professor intent on generating robust discussion, she constantly asks questions of her reader: "Can a person live a spiritual life…if you no longer believe you have a soul?"; "Where do values come from?"; "Are humans monogamous?" Churchland answers these questions and more in her assured style, often using stories about her childhood on a farm in rural British Columbia to explain her perspective.