Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Neurosciences, Neuroeconomics, and Metaphysics

  • Chapter
Book cover Psychiatry and Neuroscience Update

Abstract

The recognition of the influence of theory on data selection and interpretation has led to the widely accepted notion that the content, formulation, and methodology of scientific theories largely depends on a metaphysical worldview. This chapter draws from Craig Dilworth’s thesis (The metaphysics of science. 2nd ed. Dordrecht: Springer, 2006) on the physicalist (and consequently materialist) metaphysical commitments of contemporary science to show how this link is present in the neurosciences, economics, and neuroeconomics. However, these sciences are still somewhat lodged between an acceptance of an absolutely physicalist view of reality and the defense of the existence of realities beyond matter. The physicalist worldview translates in the sciences into a predominant scientific positivism shyly resisted by neurosciences and economics. In fact, neuroeconomics’ parent theory—behavioral economics—seeks to explain the empirical anomalies of positivist standard economic theories by exploring beyond openly manifested data. However, the fledgling science of neuroeconomics claims to have found the root of these anomalies in an even more materialistic internal place: neural interactions. As a result, the materialistic explanation is all but reinforced. In neuroeconomics, the physicalist worldview has prevailed over the openness to other realities, but, even so, some opposing voices can still be heard.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Duhem P. Physical theory and experiment. In: Cover JA, Curd M, editors. Philosophy of science: the central issues. New York: W. W. Norton; 1998. p. 257–79. From Pierre Duhem, The aim and structure of physical theory (transl. P. P. Wiener) Princeton University Press; 1954; original: La théorie physique. Son object et sa structure, Paris: Chevalier et Rivière; 1906. http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/philo/textesph/duhem_theorie_physique.pdf. Accessed 3 July 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Popper KR. The logic of scientific discovery. London: Routledge; [1934] 2000 (Logik der Forschung, translated by the author).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Quine WVO. Two dogmas of empiricism. Philos Rev. 1951;60(1):20–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gadamer HG. Truth and method, second revised edition. New York: Continuum; [1960] 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hanson NR. Patterns of discovery. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Heidelberger M. Theory-ladenness and scientific instruments in experimentation. In: Radder H, editor. The philosophy of scientific experimentation. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press; 2003. p. 138–51.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Van Fraasen B. The scientific image. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1980.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  8. Bogen J. Theory and observation in science. In: Zalta E, editor. Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. 2013. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/science-theory-observation/. Accessed 28 June 2014.

  9. Reiss J. What’s wrong with our theories of evidence? Theoria. 2014;80(2):283–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ladyman J. Understanding philosophy of science. London: Routledge; 2002.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  11. Dilworth C. The metaphysics of science. 2nd ed. Dordrecht: Springer; 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Agazzi E. Science and metaphysics: two kinds of knowledge. Epistemologia. 1988;11(11):11–28.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Nagatsu M. Function and mechanism. The metaphysics of neuroeconomics. J Econ Meth. 2010;17(2):197–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Schouten M, Looren de Jong H. Mind matters: the roots of reductionism. In: Schouten M, Looren de Jong H, editors. The matter of the mind. Oxford: Blackwell; 2007. p. 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Chalmers D. The conscious mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Bickle J, Mandik P, Landreth A. The philosophy of neuroscience. In: Zalta E, editor. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. 2012. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neuroscience/. Accessed 30 June 2014.

  17. Bennett M, Hacker P. Philosophical foundations of neuroscience. Oxford: Blackwell; 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Aristotle. On the soul (Loeb Classical), trans. W. S. Hett. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Kenny A. The homunculus fallacy. In: Grene M, editor. Interpretations of life and mind: essays around the problem of reduction. London: Routledge; 1971. p. 65–74.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Wittgenstein L. Philosophical investigations. Oxford: Blackwell; [1958] 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Wimsatt W. Reductionism and its heuristics: making methodological reductionism honest. Synthese. 2006;151(3):445–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Senior NW. Statistical science. In: Smyth RL, editor. Essays in economic method. London: Gerald Duckworth; [1860] 1962. p. 19–24.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Hutchison TW. Introduction. In: Smyth RL, editor. Essays in economic method. London: Gerald Duckworth; 1962. p. 9–18.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Robbins L. Essay on the nature and significance of economic science. London: Macmillan; 1935.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Menger C. Investigations into the method of the social sciences with special reference to economics, Ed. Louis Schneider, Transl. Francis Cook. Auburn, AL: Mises Institute; [1883] 1985 (Untersuchungenüber die Methode der Socialwissenschaften und der PolitischenOekonomieinsbesondere, Leipzig: Ducker &Humblot).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Samuelson PA. A note on the pure theory of consumer’s behaviour. Economica. 1938;5(17):61–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Samuelson PA. Consumption theory in terms of revealed preference. Economica. 1948;15(60):243–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Von Neumann J, Morgenstern O. Theory of games and economic behavior. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1944.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Savage LJ. The foundation of statistics. New York: Dover; [1954] 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Martins N. Can neuroscience inform economics? Rationality, emotions and preference formation. Camb J Econ. 2011;35(2):251–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Samuelson PA. The foundations of economic analysis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1947.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Sen A. Rationality and freedom. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Sen A. Choice, welfare and measurement. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Fumagalli R. The disunity of neuroeconomics: a methodological appraisal. J Econ Meth. 2010;17(2):119–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Marchionni C, Vromen J. Neuroeconomics: hype or hope? J Econ Meth. 2010;17(2):103–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Marchionni C, Vromen J. Neuroeconomics: hype or hope? London: Routledge; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Harrison GW, Ross D. The methodologies of neuroeconomics. J Econ Meth. 2010;17(2):185–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Glimcher PW, Camerer C, Fehr E, Poldrack R. Neuroeconomics: decision making and the brain. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Camerer C, Lowenstein C, Prelec D. How neuroeconomics can inform economics. J Econ Lit. 2005;43(1):9–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Ross D. Economic theory and cognitive science: microexplanation. Cambridge, MA: MIT; 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Ross D. Two styles of neuroeconomics. Econ Philos. 2008;24(3):473–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Graziano M. Epistemology of decision. Dordrecht: Springer; 2013.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  43. Gul F, Pesendorfer W. The case for mindless economics. In: Caplin A, Schotter A, editors. The foundations of positive and normative economics. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2008. p. 3–39.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Levine DK. Neuroeconomics? Int Rev Econ. 2011;58(3):287–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Fumagalli R. The futile search for true utility. Econ Philos. 2013;29(3):325–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. McMaster R. Neuroeconomics: a skeptical view. Real World Econ Rev. 2011;58:113–25.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Fehr E, Rangel A. Neuroeconomic foundations of economic choice—recent advances. J Econ Perspect. 2011;25(4):3–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Antonietti A. Do neurobiological data help us to understand economic decisions better? J Econ Meth. 2008;17(2):207–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Kuorikoski J, Ylikoski P. Explanatory relevance across disciplinary boundaries: the case of neuroeconomics. J Econ Meth. 2010;17(2):219–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Muramatsu R. The possibilities of neuroeconomics: an account through the lens of economic methodology. In: Marqués G, editor. [Rationality, economics and interdisciplinary. Spanish]. Buenos Aires: CIECE (FCE-UBA); 2009. p. 249–98.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Harrison GW. Neuroeconomics: a critical consideration. Econ Philos. 2008;24(3):303–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Crespo RF, Mesurado B. Happiness economics, eudaimonia and positive psychology: from happiness economics to flourishing economics. J Happiness Stud. 2014. doi:10.1007/s10902-014-9541-4.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Büchner F. [Body and spirit in modern medicine. Spanish] Cuerpo y espíritu en la medicina actual. Madrid: Rialp (VomgeistegenStandort der modernen Medizin. Freiburg: Hans Ferdinand Schulz Verlag); [1957] 1969.

    Google Scholar 

  54. Craver CF, Alexandrova A. No revolution necessary: neural mechanisms for economics. Econ Philos. 2008;29(3):381–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophy Department, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo and National Council of Scientific and Technical research (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Ricardo F. Crespo Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Ricardo F. Crespo Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ricardo F. Crespo Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Guaymallen Mendoza, Argentina

    Pascual Ángel Gargiulo

  2. Member of the Council of the Institute of Neurobiology (Buenos Aires); Member of the Board of Certification, National Academy of Medicine (Argentina), Psychiatrist by University Complutense of Madrid and University of Buenos Aires; Former Director of National Institute of Mental Health (Argentina), Cuyo, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Humberto Luis Mesones Arroyo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Crespo, R.F. (2015). Neurosciences, Neuroeconomics, and Metaphysics. In: Gargiulo, P., Arroyo, H. (eds) Psychiatry and Neuroscience Update. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17103-6_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17103-6_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-17102-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-17103-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation