In search of the neurobiological basis of decision making: explanation, reduction and emergence

Di Francesco, Michele and Motterlini, Matteo and Colombo, Matteo (2007) In search of the neurobiological basis of decision making: explanation, reduction and emergence. Functional Neurology; New Trends in Interventional Neurosciences, 22 (4). pp. 197-204. ISSN 1971-3274

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Abstract

In recent years, the study of decision making has provided a paradigmatic case of "crossbreeding" of different disciplines. The integration of economics, psychology and neurosciences within neuroeconomics calls for more accurate and comprehensive models of human rationality, which may be obtained by combining diverse theoretical approaches and experimental techniques. In this respect, neuroeconomics contributes to a naturalistic, brain-based, explanation of human agency. However, although contemporary naturalism insists on the unitary aspect of reality, we stress that supporting unitary study of nature is not the same as supporting a single, fundamental discipline to which all higher-order analyses could (or should) be reduced. We argue for integration, rather than reduction, as the best approach to a naturalistic explanation of human decision making, and we claim that supporting epistemological pluralism does not mean being committed to any specific ontological position. However, we suggest that an "emergentist" ontology is the best candidate to integrate the epistemological analysis here endorsed.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	decision making, emergentism, epistemological pluralism, neuroeconomics
Subjects:	100 Filosofia e Psicologia > 150 Psicologia > 153 Processi mentali consci e intelligenza (Classificare qui la conoscenza, le Scienze cognitive, la Psicologia cognitiva, i processi intellettuali, le opere d'insieme sulle emozioni e la conoscenza) 600 Tecnologia - Scienze applicate > 610 Medicina e salute (Classificare qui la tecnologia dei servizi medici) > 612 Fisiologia umana > 612.8 Funzioni nervose, funzioni sensorie (Classificare qui la Neurofisiologia, la Psicofisiologia) > 612.82 Cervello (classificare qui il sistema nervoso centrale, le Neuroscienze, le Neuroscienze cognitive)
Depositing User:	Danilo Dezzi
Date Deposited:	30 Jan 2012 11:08
Last Modified:	30 Jan 2012 11:29
URI:	http://eprints.bice.rm.cnr.it/id/eprint/3738

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