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Perspectives on Neuroscience

Perspectives on Neuroscience

Published on: July 31, 2007

A related proposal: An interactionist perspective on reason.

¹Institut des Sciences Cognitives - Marc Jeannerod,CNRS UMR 5307,69675 Bron,France.hugo.mercier@gmail.comhttps://sites.google.com/site/hugomercier/.

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences

|May 9, 2019

Summary

Reason is a cognitive tool for exchanging arguments, aligning with interactionist views. This perspective challenges reflectivism and individualism by emphasizing social justification processes.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Philosophy of Mind
Evolutionary Psychology

Background:

Traditional views of reason often focus on individual cognitive processes.
The concept of reflectivism and individualism in reasoning has been debated.
Existing theories may not fully capture the social function of reasoning.

Purpose of the Study:

Introduce the interactionist perspective on reason.
Explain reason as an evolved cognitive mechanism for social exchange.
Provide arguments against reflectivism and individualism in reasoning.

Main Methods:

Conceptual analysis of reasoning.
Development of the interactionist perspective.
Comparative analysis with existing philosophical views (e.g., Doris).

Main Results:

Reason is framed as a specialized cognitive mechanism for generating and evaluating justifications and arguments.
The interactionist perspective offers a functional explanation for the evolution of reason.
This perspective provides a strong basis for rejecting reflectivist and individualist accounts of reason.

Conclusions:

The interactionist perspective offers a novel and robust framework for understanding reason.
Reason's primary function is social, facilitating argumentation and justification exchange.
This view challenges traditional, individual-centric models of human cognition.