Episode 84, The Patricia Churchland Interview (Part II - The Conscience)

<p class=""><strong>Introduction</strong></p> <p class="">Resting on our shoulders is the most complex object in the known universe: 86 billion neurons, each connected to 10,000 others. From Plato to Descartes, to the modern-day, philosophers have largely been ignorant of the workings of the brain, despite many questions in philosophy seeming to be intimately linked with its nature. Questions like: What are the origins of our moral intuitions, our conscience? What is the nature of decision-making? And how does the brain produce consciousness? </p> <p class="">Following the recent upsurge of interest and research into neuroscience (reaching full steam in the 1970s), Patricia Churchland describes the emergence of <em>neurophilosophy</em> as 'inevitable', coining the term in her now classic book, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neurophilosophy-Unified-Science-Mind-Brain-Bradford/dp/0262530856" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>Neurophilosophy: Toward a Unified Science of the Mind-Brain</em></a> in 1986. Alongside <em>Neurophilosophy</em>, Patricia Churchland is best known for her books <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780393349443" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>Touching a Nerve</em></a>, <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780691180977" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>Braintrust</em></a>, and most recently <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781324000891" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>Conscience</em></a>, which (together with hundreds of other publications, interviews, public talks, and awards) have led her to be considered one of, if not <em>the</em>, world's leading <em>neuro</em>philosopher. </p> <p class="">Currently Professor Emerita in Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, Patricia Churchland has knocked down the wall between science and philosophy, inspiring a new wave of thinking about life's most challenging questions.</p> <p class="">For some, however, the wall was there for a reason: questions of philosophy <em>should not</em> be confused with questions of science. After all, what can neuroscience tell us about the origin of consciousness or the nature of morality? Our topics for this episode...</p> <div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" id="block-95d68504df5d21265547"> <div class="sqs-block-content"> <p class=""><strong>Contents</strong></p> <p class="">Part I. The Hornswoggle Problem</p> <p class="">Part II. The Conscience</p> </div> </div> <div class="sqs-block horizontalrule-block sqs-block-horizontalrule" id="block-4f4fa1a145939cace308"> <div class="sqs-block-content"> <hr /></div> </div> <div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" id="block-112cd83383259850cacc"> <div class="sqs-block-content"> <p class=""><strong>Links</strong></p> <p class=""><a href="https://patriciachurchland.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Patricia Churchland, Website.</a></p> <p class=""><a href="https://patriciachurchland.com/books/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Patricia Churchland, Books.</a></p> <p class=""><a href="https://patriciachurchland.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/1996-the-Hornswoggle-Problem.pdf" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Patricia Churchland, <em>The Hornswoggle Problem</em>.</a></p> <p class=""><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781324000891" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Patricia Churchland, <em>Conscience</em> (IndieBound).</a></p> <p class=""><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conscience-Origins-Intuition-Patricia-Churchland/dp/1324000899" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Patricia Churchland <em>Conscience</em> (Amazon).</a></p> </div> </div>