amazon | How are philosophical and theological concepts conceived in the mind?
Why are certain topics of greater importance to philosophers and
theologians? Why do people think about these issues in the first place?
These are the questions that are explored in the ground breaking book,
“The Metaphysical Mind”. Philosophy and theology usually considers
various fundamental concepts such as those related to being, reality,
causality, logic, or phenomenology. But the philosophical approach to
these topics often leaves out one of the most important things – the
human brain. After all, it is the brain that is actually thinking about
these ideas in the first place. “The Metaphysical Mind” explores the
relationship between the brain and philosophical thought and helps us to
understand how the brain enables and restricts our ability to think
about these metaphysical concepts.
One of the major developments of
contemporary thought has been the field of hermeneutics. Hermeneutics
considers the environmental, linguistic, and cultural factors that
influence a given philosopher in order to determine how particular ideas
or texts may have been shaped. However, no one has ever examined
philosophical and theological thought specifically from the
hermeneutical perspective of the neurobiological and genetic substrate
that underlies such thinking. This “neuroscientific hermeneutic” or
“neurohermeneutic” refers specifically to the functions of the brain and
how they are related to various thought processes which have been at
the cornerstone of philosophical and theological thought throughout
history. Additionally, this neurohermeneutic helps to better interpret
how and why such thoughts develop. Neurohermeneutics is based upon a
synthesis of information from multiple fields including anthropology,
neurophysiology, cognitive neuroscience, genetics, theology, and
philosophy. Many of the major milestones in the history of
philosophical and theological thought from pre-Socratic thinkers to the
present day can be considered from the perspective of the functioning of
the human mind and its multimodal interaction with the social,
cultural, intellectual, and physical environment. In particular, the
development of some of the most dramatic concepts in philosophy and
theology can be considered in relation to certain brain functions and
how those functions enable human beings to interpret meaning in the
world. Similarly, contemplative/meditative traditions can be
considered to be associated with certain brain functions in order to
explore how such experiences are perceived and interpreted.
This book
will also consider the issue of the experience of reality from a
neurophysiological perspective. This leads to fascinating conclusions
regarding the nature and degrees of reality and how the brain
experiences that reality. Although not all philosophical and theological
concepts will be examined, many of the major movements will be
considered in order to extrapolate to the notion that a neurobiological
hermeneutic may provide a basis and fundamental bias for all
philosophical thinking – a “metaphilosophy” (or “metatheology” in the
specific context of religion). Ultimately, this approach might even
lead to a “megaphilosophy” containing universal concepts that could be
conceived of from any philosophical or theological perspective. The
result of this analysis leads to a description of the "metaphysical
mind" which is necessarily driven to pursue philosophical and
theological questions, but also shapes how the answers to such questions
arise. Thus, the brain itself is “designed” to function in a
philosophical or metaphysical manner. This revolutionary approach to
philosophical and theological thought will provide readers something to
think about for the millennium to come.
