{"product_id":"the-idealized-mind-isbn-9780262552936","title":"The Idealized Mind","description":"\u003cb\u003eA defense of scientific realism based on the role of idealization in the cognitive sciences.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe study nature, including the mind and brain, by building scientific models. In \u003ci\u003eThe Idealized Mind\u003c\/i\u003e, Michael Kirchhoff brings together ideas from the philosophy of cognitive science and the philosophy of science to reconcile scientific realism with model-based science. His defense of scientific realism—the view that one reasonable aim of science is to provide true (or approximately true) descriptions of reality—is based on the role of idealization in the cognitive sciences. Idealization, he claims, is inevitable in cognitive science; at the same time, any understanding of the mind and brain must show how it is possible for scientific models to be reliably used to make truth-conditional assertions about their target phenomena.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA central error in most theorizing about the mind, Kirchhoff claims, is to confuse the properties of scientific models with those of the system being modeled. But scientific models are, almost exclusively and unavoidably, idealizations of the world we seek to understand. They are descriptions of hypothetical systems, things that do not actually exist in nature. Specifically, Kirchhoff uses insights on idealization in science to assess the status and standing of three foundational issues in cognitive science: neural representation, neural computation, and the prospects for explanatory unification. He also explains why it is a mistake to approach neural representation and neural computation through the metaphysical stances of realism, fictionalism, or eliminativism.Introduction\u003cbr\u003ePart 1: Scientific Realism and the Non-literal View of Idealization\u003cbr\u003eChapter 1 - Scientific Models and the Map Problem\u003cbr\u003eChapter 2 - Idealization: The Standard View\u003cbr\u003eChapter 3 - Idealization: The Non-literal View\u003cbr\u003eChapter 4: Idealization and Scientific Realism\u003cbr\u003ePart 2: Implications for Cognitive Science\u003cbr\u003eChapter 5 - Idealization and Neural Representation\u003cbr\u003eChapter 6 - Idealization and Content in Computational Modeling\u003cbr\u003eChapter 7 - Idealization and the Mechanistic Theory of Computation\u003cbr\u003eChapter 8 - Idealization, Multiple Models and Pluralism\u003cbr\u003eChapter 9 - Idealization and a Grand Unifying Theory of the Brain (case study)\u003cbr\u003eChapter 10 - Idealization and Fictionalism in Science and Cognitive Science\u003cbr\u003eConcluding remarks: The idealized mind\u003cbr\u003eReferences“This book offers a forensic—yet friendly—philosophical treatment of the science of mind. It is forensic in its rigor and friendly in its disclosure of the idealizations we appeal to when making sense of our lived world. I especially liked the denouement of these arguments, as exemplified by the free energy that is—in and of itself—an account of sense making. The ensuing narrative is deeply layered, challenging, yet consistent and deeply compelling.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Karl Friston, Professor, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Rich in insights from philosophy of science and concrete examples from natural science, Michael Kirchhoff’s \u003ci\u003eThe Idealized Mind\u003c\/i\u003e argues compellingly for an acceptable scientific realism without requiring that scientific idealizations literally describe reality. Kirchhoff expertly charts this difficult course and successfully tests his account on the premier model of the mind. This book helps us understand what scientific models really teach us about nature, including our own minds.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Jakob Hohwy, Director of the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, Monash University; author of \u003ci\u003eThe Predictive Mind\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Self-Evidencing Agent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eMichael D. Kirchhoff is Associate Professor in the School of Liberal Arts at the University of Wollongong.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233686532325,"sku":"NP9780262552936","price":60.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262552936.jpg?v=1767739901","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-idealized-mind-isbn-9780262552936","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}