From the perspective of neurobiology, neural activity governs what happens in the mind. But what exactly do neuroscientists know about the mechanisms underlying brain activity and their influence on the human mind? Brigitte Falkenburg explores this question, focusing on the methods of neuroscience.

These methods are rooted in the methodology of modern physics and have now been expanded by the paradigm of information theory. Physics has long ago moved away from a mechanistic worldview, yet obsolete mechanistic ideas remain influential in our understanding of neurobiology to this day. The mechanistic explanations of neuroscience differ significantly from what their name suggests; they are much weaker than is often assumed, drawing in cognitive neuroscience on analogies from information theory.

However, the assumption that consciousness can be understood in this way leads to atomistic and causal fallacies. Falkenburg's book aims to clear up such misconceptions in the debate about brain and mind, determinism and free will. She outlines a philosophy of neuroscience that examines the methods of scientific research and their limitations from the perspective of the philosophy of science, paving the way for a more nuanced understanding of what we know about nature and the human being.

The book has been updated and thoroughly revised for the English translation of the second German edition published in 2024. 

Brigitte Falkenburg is professor emerita of philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy and Political Science at TU Dortmund University. She holds doctoral degrees in both philosophy and physics. Her field of research is theoretical philosophy, with a focus on the philosophy of science and technology, and her research perspective is grounded in Kant’s philosophy.