Abstract
In recent decades, the neuroscientific community has moved from
describing the neural underpinnings of mental phenomena – as
characterized by experimental psychology and philosophy of mind – to
attempting to redefine those mental phenomena based on neural findings.
Nowadays, many are intrigued by the idea that neuroscience might provide
the ‘missing piece’ that would allow philosophers (and, to an extent,
psychologists, too) to make important advances, generating new means
that these disciplines lack to close knowledge gaps and answer questions
like ‘Do we have Free Will?’, ‘Why are we conscious?’, ‘How do reason
and emotion interact in decision making?’, and more. In this paper, we
argue that instead of striving for neuroscience to replace philosophy in
the ongoing quest to understanding human thought and behavior, more
synergetic relations should be established, where neuroscience does not
only inspire philosophy but also draws from it. We claim that such a
collaborative co-evolution, with the two disciplines nourishing and
influencing each other, is key to resolving long-lasting questions that
have thus far proved impenetrable for either discipline on its own.