Article ID: CBB001321206

Neuroscience, Neurohistory, and the History of Science: A Tale of Two Brain Images (2014)

unapi

Fuller, Steven (Author)


Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences
Volume: 105
Pages: 100--109


Publication Date: 2014
Edition Details: Introduction to a focus section on “Neurohistory and History of Science”
Language: English

This essay introduces a Focus section on Neurohistory and History of Science by distinguishing images of the brain as governor and as transducer: the former treat the brain as the executive control center of the body, the latter as an interface between the organism and reality at large. Most of the consternation expressed in the symposium about the advent of neurohistory derives from the brain-as-governor conception, which is rooted in a biologistic understanding of humanity that in recent years has become bound up in various nefarious neoliberal political and economic agendas. However, given the sophisticated attitude that neurohistory's leading champion, Daniel Smail, displays toward evolutionary theory's potential impact on historical practice, he is perhaps better understood as part of the brain-as-transducer tradition. This tradition, largely suppressed in current representations of neuroscience, has a strong theological provenance, ultimately concerned with our becoming attuned to the divine frequency, not least by extending the powers of the human nervous system through technology. This essay sympathetically explores the implications of this perspective for historical practice.

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Description Contents:


Includes Series Articles

Article Cooter, Roger (2014) Neural Veils and the Will to Historical Critique: Why Historians of Science Need to Take the Neuro-Turn Seriously. Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (p. 145). unapi

Article Smail, Daniel Lord (2014) Neurohistory in Action: Hoarding and the Human Past. Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (p. 110). unapi

Article Casper, Stephen T. (2014) History and Neurosciece: An Interactive Legacy. Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (p. 123). unapi

Article Stadler, Max (2014) Neurohistory Is Bunk?: The Not-So-Deep History of the Postclassical Mind. Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (p. 133). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001321206/

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Authors & Contributors
Wainer, Juan Manuel Garrido
Yan, Karen
Hricko, Jonathan
Beard, Alexander
Hirmas, Natalia
Keiser, Jess
Concepts
Neurosciences
Brain
Philosophy of science
Nervous system
Historiography
Mind and body
Time Periods
21st century
20th century
20th century, late
19th century
18th century
17th century
Places
Amsterdam (Netherlands)
United States
Latin America
Soviet Union
Chile
Institutions
International Brain Research Organization
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