Facchin, Marco (2023) Neural Representations Unobserved - or: a dilemma for the cognitive neuroscience revolution. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Neural structural representations are cerebral map- or model-like structures that structurally resemble what they represent. These representations are absolutely central to the “cognitive neuroscience revolution”, as they are the only type of representation compatible with the revolutionaries’ mechanistic commitments. Crucially, however, these very same commitments entail that structural representations can be observed in the swirl of neuronal activity. Here, I argue that no structural representations have been observed being present in our neuronal activity, no matter the spatiotemporal scale of observation. My argument begins by introducing the “cognitive neuroscience revolution” (§1) and sketching a prominent, widely adopted account of structural representations (§2). Then, I will consult various reports that describe our neuronal activity at various spatiotemporal scales, arguing that none of them reports the presence of structural representations (§3). After having deflected certain intuitive objections to my analysis (§4), I will conclude that, in the absence of neural structural representations, representationalism and mechanism can’t go together, and so the “cognitive neuroscience revolution” is forced to abandon one of its commitments (§5).

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Facchin, Marco marco.facchin.marco.facchin@gmail.com 0000-0001-5753-9873
Keywords:	Structural representations, Eliminativism, Neuroscience, Mechanistic explanation, Neurocognitive revolution
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Neuroscience > Cognitive Neuroscience Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Concepts and Representations Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Depositing User:	Dr. Marco Facchin
Date Deposited:	18 May 2023 15:11
Last Modified:	18 May 2023 15:11
Item ID:	22119
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Neuroscience > Cognitive Neuroscience Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Concepts and Representations Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Date:	2023
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/22119

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• Neural Representations Unobserved - or: a dilemma for the cognitive neuroscience revolution. (deposited 17 May 2023 13:52)
  • Neural Representations Unobserved - or: a dilemma for the cognitive neuroscience revolution. (deposited 18 May 2023 15:11) [Currently Displayed]
    • Neural Representations Unobserved - or: a dilemma for the cognitive neuroscience revolution. (deposited 13 Nov 2023 03:25)

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