The neuroscience of consciousness is not going to stop in its tracks because some philosophers guesses that project cannot be productive.
Patricia ChurchlandAlthough many philosophers used to dismiss the relevance of neuroscience on grounds that what mattered was the software, not the hardware, increasingly philosophers have come to recognize that understanding how the brain works is essential to understanding the mind.
Patricia ChurchlandBeing engaged in some way for the good of the community, whatever that community, is a factor in a meaningful life. We long to belong, and belonging and caring anchors our sense of place in the universe.
Patricia ChurchlandSuppression of impulses that would put you in danger is obviously an important neurobiological function.
Patricia ChurchlandIf you want to understand the nature of something, to find out the truth, that is one thing. If you want to play semantics, make up wild thought 'experiments', that is another thing. I am not so interested in the latter, though I do appreciate that it can be fun, however unproductive.
Patricia Churchland