Paul Churchland
Our beliefs and desires are a bad theory, which neuroscience will replace.
Life
Canadian philosopher born in 1942, professor at the University of California, San Diego. He defends eliminative materialism: our beliefs and desires form a folk theory that neuroscience will replace. He draws on neural networks to think about knowledge and consciousness.
Main works
Folk psychology is a false theory that will have to be replaced.
An introduction to the philosophy of mind defending materialism.
The brain understood as a neural network.
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceKnowledge is the brain's learned, experience-driven representation of the world, tested by science.
Churchland, Plato's Camera (2012)
Folk psychology (beliefs, desires) is a false theory that mature neuroscience will replace, so the mind is entirely physical.
Churchland, "Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes", Journal of Philosophy (1981)
Moral knowledge is a trained skill of the brain in social life, closer to character and practical skill than to rules.
Churchland, "Toward a Cognitive Neurobiology of the Moral Virtues", Topoi (1998)