How the new brain sciences are transforming our understanding of what
it means to be human
The brain sciences are influencing our understanding of human behavior
as never before, from neuropsychiatry and neuroeconomics to
neurotheology and neuroaesthetics. Many now believe that the brain is
what makes us human, and it seems that neuroscientists are poised to
become the new experts in the management of human conduct. Neuro
describes the key developments--theoretical, technological, economic,
and biopolitical--that have enabled the neurosciences to gain such
traction outside the laboratory. It explores the ways neurobiological
conceptions of personhood are influencing everything from child rearing
to criminal justice, and are transforming the ways we "know ourselves"
as human beings. In this emerging neuro-ontology, we are not
"determined" by our neurobiology: on the contrary, it appears that we
can and should seek to improve ourselves by understanding and acting on
our brains.
Neuro examines the implications of this emerging trend, weighing the
promises against the perils, and evaluating some widely held concerns
about a neurobiological "colonization" of the social and human sciences.
Despite identifying many exaggerated claims and premature promises,
Neuro argues that the openness provided by the new styles of thought
taking shape in neuroscience, with its contemporary conceptions of the
neuromolecular, plastic, and social brain, could make possible a new and
productive engagement between the social and brain sciences.
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