2.3C Problem 8
Reductionism
Ontological
Reductionism (ontological)- the whole of reality consists of a minimal
number of entities or substances
Usually meant in a metaphysical sense, that there is only one
substance and that is material
Equivalent to monism
o Denies existence of unseen life force
Could reduce material things to other substance (eg. consciousness)
Could think there are 2 + irreducible substances
Methodological
Reductionism (methodological)- in science, small is beautiful
In science, best strategy is to attempt to explain in terms of the
most minute entities
“small” is relative
Highly controversial- denies claims of hierarchical order in the
word
Kuhn- theories are incommensurable, reduction is never possible
Mental
Reductionism (mental) – (about subject matter X) the claim that facts
about X can be reduced to facts about an apparently different subject-
matter Y
Y= reduction based
o Add more?
Hochstein Et Al
Debate between philosophy of mind and philosophy of science,
about how to best interpret relationship between theories, models of
neuroscience, and psychology
1. As both neuroscience and psychology improve with time, the
theories will co-evolve and converge into unified theory of cognitive
behaviour
2. Both domains will not converge, as two domains characterise the
systems at different levels of organisation
o Psychology: function states of systems can be realised in
different way by different mechanisms
o Neuroscience: characterise physical implementation of
neurological mechanisms
Theories of psychology irreducible to neuroscience theories, as they
exist independently from any system that realises them
Hochstein: both 1 and 2 are incorrect: the domains aren’t independent but
they won’t ever unite to one point
1. Traditional Characterisations of Psychological/neuroscientific divide
a) Convergence
Both domains share the same goal of developing ideal theory
of cognitive behaviour
Reductionism
Ontological
Reductionism (ontological)- the whole of reality consists of a minimal
number of entities or substances
Usually meant in a metaphysical sense, that there is only one
substance and that is material
Equivalent to monism
o Denies existence of unseen life force
Could reduce material things to other substance (eg. consciousness)
Could think there are 2 + irreducible substances
Methodological
Reductionism (methodological)- in science, small is beautiful
In science, best strategy is to attempt to explain in terms of the
most minute entities
“small” is relative
Highly controversial- denies claims of hierarchical order in the
word
Kuhn- theories are incommensurable, reduction is never possible
Mental
Reductionism (mental) – (about subject matter X) the claim that facts
about X can be reduced to facts about an apparently different subject-
matter Y
Y= reduction based
o Add more?
Hochstein Et Al
Debate between philosophy of mind and philosophy of science,
about how to best interpret relationship between theories, models of
neuroscience, and psychology
1. As both neuroscience and psychology improve with time, the
theories will co-evolve and converge into unified theory of cognitive
behaviour
2. Both domains will not converge, as two domains characterise the
systems at different levels of organisation
o Psychology: function states of systems can be realised in
different way by different mechanisms
o Neuroscience: characterise physical implementation of
neurological mechanisms
Theories of psychology irreducible to neuroscience theories, as they
exist independently from any system that realises them
Hochstein: both 1 and 2 are incorrect: the domains aren’t independent but
they won’t ever unite to one point
1. Traditional Characterisations of Psychological/neuroscientific divide
a) Convergence
Both domains share the same goal of developing ideal theory
of cognitive behaviour
