Does the human brain have unique genetically determined networks coding logical and ethical principles and aesthetics? From Plato to novel mirror networks.
Starting from the assumption that philosophers carry out "experiments" not on concrete objects, but on concepts and relationships between concepts, it could be postulated that the philosopher's way to proceed is not basically different from that followed by scientists. From this similarity of approaches it can be considered that some philosophical problems and theories have a high impact on how to address scientific investigations. One of these issues is certainly the philosophical debate over innate ideas, which is central to the conflict between rationalist and empiricist epistemologies. We started our reflections on the possible presence of innate ideas in the human brain from the observation that there exists strong experimental support for the view that not only complex behaviours (e.g., sexual courtship, parental care) but also aesthetic and ethic judgements can be, at least in part, genetically determined. On these grounds it is suggested that neurobiological findings can give important contributions to the philosophical debate on innatism by putting forward possible explanatory models and heuristic hypotheses.
Agnati
Luigi Francesco
LF
Section of Physiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 287, 141100 Modena, Italy. luigiagnati@tin.it
Agnati
Achille
A
Mora
Francisco
F
Fuxe
Kjell
K
D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D004954:Esthetics; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D010684:Philosophy