The Peripheral Mind

Philosophy of Mind and the Peripheral Nervous System

István Aranyosi

Philosophy of Mind

Offers a unique combination of methodologies: conceptual analysis, neuroscientific data, philosophical speculation, and first-person phenomenological reflections
First book length study of the philosophical importance of the Peripheral Nervous System
Offers novel solution to a wide range of classic puzzles in the philosophy of mind
Scientifically well-informed

The Peripheral Mind

Philosophy of Mind and the Peripheral Nervous System

István Aranyosi

Description

The Peripheral Mind introduces a novel approach to a wide range of issues in the philosophy of mind by shifting the focus of analysis from the brain to the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). Contemporary philosophy of mind has neglected the potential significance of the PNS and has implicitly assumed that, ultimately, sensory and perceptual experience comes together in the brain. István Aranyosi proposes a philosophical hypothesis according to which peripheral processes are considered as constitutive of sensory states rather than merely as causal contributors to them. Part of the motivation for the project is explained in the autobiographical opening chapter, which describes the author's subjective experiences with severe peripheral nerve damage.

Although Aranyosi's approach could be classified as part of the current "embodied mind" paradigm in the philosophy of mind and cognitive neuroscience, this is the first time that notions like "embodiment" and "body" in general are replaced by the more focused concept of the PNS. Aranyosi puts the hypothesis to the test and offers novel solutions to puzzles related to physicalism, functionalism, mental content, embodiment, the extended mind hypothesis, tactile-proprioceptive illusions, as well as to some problems in neuroethics, such as abortion and requests for amputation of healthy body parts. The diversity of the volume's methodology--which results from a combination of conceptual analysis, discussion of neuroscientific data, philosophical speculation, and first-person phenomenological accounts--makes the book both engaging and highly informative.

The Peripheral Mind

Philosophy of Mind and the Peripheral Nervous System

István Aranyosi

Philosophy of Mind

Preface and Acknowledgments

Chapter I: Margins of Me: a Personal Story

PART 1: MINDS AND NERVES

Chapter II: A Philosophical Hypothesis
II.1 PMH as a philosophical hypothesis
II.2 PMH and the case of visual awareness research
II.3 Causal versus constitutive contribution

Chapter III: Return of the C fibers, or Philosophers' Lack of Nerve
III.1 Well, maybe the mind is the brain ... somewhere
III.2 Folk neuroscience and the philosophy of mind
III.3 Nervous systems and closet sunsum theory

Chapter IV: Toward a Well-Innervated Philosophy of Mind
IV.1 'It's just cables!'
IV.2 Functionalist troubles?
The mad pain problem
The problem of pseudo-normal vision
The China-brain problem
The triviality problem

PART 2: BOUNDS OF MIND

Chapter V: Semantic Externalism
V.1 Twin Earth
V.2 Anti-Narrowness and Determination
V.3 Anti-wideness
V.4 Skinternalism: an Anti-Internalist Individualism
V.5 Some further issues

Chapter VI: Mind Extended
VI.1 Allegedly extended processes
VI.2 Allegedly extended states

PART 3: MIND EMBODIED

Chapter VII: Embodiment and the Peripheral Mind
VII.1 'Fingers crossed for the embodied mind!'
VII.2 Phenomenal embodiment and innervation
VII.3 Against proper disembodiment

Chapter VIII: Against Action as Constitutive of Mind
VIII.1 Embodied central processing
VIII.2 The conceptual role of the Neuromuscular Junction
VIII. 3 A brief critique of action-based (sensorimotor) theories

PART 4: MIND AND ETHICS

Chapter IX: Issues in Neuroethics
IX.1 Abortion: Thick potentiality
IX.2 Amputation: Peripheral precedence

Chapter X: Concluding Remarks
References
Name Index
Topic Index

The Peripheral Mind

Philosophy of Mind and the Peripheral Nervous System

István Aranyosi

Philosophy of Mind

Author Information

István Aranyosi was born in Sighet/Máramarossziget, in the north of Transylvania, in 1975. He studied philosophy in Budapest, at the Central European University, where he obtained his PhD in 2005. In 2006-2007 he was a fellow at the Centre for Consciousness, The Australian National University. He is currently Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bilkent University, Ankara. In 2012 he obtained Honorable Mention for his essay "A new argument for mind-brain identity" at the American Philosophical Association's prestigious biennial Article Prize.

The Peripheral Mind

Philosophy of Mind and the Peripheral Nervous System

István Aranyosi

Philosophy of Mind

Reviews and Awards

"...the book contains insightful discussions of semantic externalism and neuroethics... the book demonstrates rather clearly, I believe, that philosophers interested in the nature of the mind cannot ignore the PNS. Even if Aranyosi's discussion of the role of the PNS in mentality is not the final word on this topic, it is still a discussion worth considering." --Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online

"István Aranyosi offers an approach not only that convincingly addresses conundrums in the philosophy of mind, but with important ramifications for various issues in neuroethics as well." --Metapsychology Online Reviews

"Aranyosi's The Peripheral Mind develops an innovative approach to a variety of important topics in philosophy of mind. He offers a critical embodied perspective that draws strongly on empirical science but operates on the same turf and in the same vocabulary as mainstream analytic philosophy of mind. At the same time, Aranyosi offers a critical perspective on recent embodied theories, showing how they have ignored some of the most important aspects of bodily experience. In effect, I think this book will generate a productive debate that both mainstream philosophers of mind and proponents of the more enactive and extended styles of embodiment theory will have to join."--Shaun Gallagher, Lillian and Morrie Moss Professor of Philosophy, University of Memphis, and author of How the Body Shapes the Mind