Mirror Neurons and the Philosophy of Mind
On this bingecast episode of Mind Matters News, host Dr. Robert J. Marks welcomes to the podcast Dr. Mihretu Guta to discuss one of his chapters in the volume Minding the Brain titled “Mirror Neurons, Consciousness, and the Bearer Question.” Dr. Guta discusses the concept of “mirror neurons” – a type of brain cell that fires when a person observes an action being performed, as well as when the person performs the same action themselves. The properties of these neurons suggest they may play a role in empathy and understanding others’ actions. Dr. Guta explores the implications of mirror neurons to the mind-brain debate and how further study could illuminate these fascinating neural components.
Dr. Guta also explores the philosophical challenges surrounding the neuroscientific research on mirror neurons. First, they discuss the “easy problem” of correlating neural activity with cognitive functions, and the difficulties of ensuring the research is not “under-determined” by ignoring background neural activity. Then they broach the “hard problem” of inferring causation from mere correlation, and the philosophical arguments against directly equating neural activity with mental properties. And how does all this relate to consciousness and the mind/brain debate? Tune in to find out!
Additional Resources
- Want to dive deeper into the mind/brain debate? Get a copy of Minding the Brain!
- More with Dr. Mihretu Guta:
