Mental causation and neuroscience: The semantic pruning model

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Published 06-11-2018
José Manuel Muñoz

Abstract

In this paper I propose a hypothetical model of mental causation that I call semantic pruning and which could be defined as the causal influence of contents and meanings on the spatial configuration of the network of synapses of an individual. I will be guided by two central principles: 1) the causal influence of the mental occurs by virtue of external semantic constraints and consists in the selective activation of certain physical powers, 2) when the selective activation is continual, it triggers a process of synaptic pruning in the neural and neuromuscular network.

 

How to Cite

Muñoz, J. M. (2018). Mental causation and neuroscience: The semantic pruning model. THEORIA. An International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science, 33(3), 379–399. https://doi.org/10.1387/theoria.17312
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Keywords

mental causation, causal closure of physics, semantic constraints, mechanisms, contextual emergence, naturalization of mental content, synaptic pruning.

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