跨文化哲學與神經科學中的無我

The aim of this course is to introduce students to contemporary philosophical reflections on the cutting-edge development in neuroscience, psychiatry, and medicine with a special focus on how it relates to the inquiry of self and how it implicates for normative issues such as how to live a good life and create a better economic and political system in a human society. By the end of the semester, students are required and expected to design and conduct a research topic that intersects philosophy, neuroscience, psychiatry, medicine, and other relevant domains of knowledge to cultivate an ability to implement ideas into real life practices. The idea of no self is ground-breaking in the Eastern intellectual tradition, especially in Daoism and Buddhism. It stands in a sharp contrast to the Western intellectual tradition where a rational self is a salient and solid element that defines who we are as persons. These two fundamentally divergent theses about the nature of self have profoundly shaped human life in economic, social and political aspects in the Eastern and Western civilizations. The aim of this seminar is to re-examine and re-evaluate how to live a good human life in a society of the contemporary era where science prevails. In particular, we will investigate the cutting-edge development of neuroscience, psychiatry, and some other specialties of medicine, with a special focus on how empirical and clinical researches in these areas shed light on the thesis of no-self and how this new light bears implications for living an ethical life and for scheming economic and political systems that are more apt for human welfare and environmental sustainability. This seminar consists of two main parts: Part I is theory, consisting of three main components, and Part II is practice. Part I: Theory i) In the first component, we will read and discuss philosophical works on the no-self thesis in the Daoist and Buddhist traditions (the original texts of the Zhuangzi, Laozi, Buddha, and other second-hand literatures such as by Kai-Yuan Cheng (2014, 2019, book manuscript) and by Monima Chadha (2023)). ii) In the second component, we will read and discuss neuro-scientific and psychiatric works by Georg Northoff (2023), who has championed spatiotemporal neuroscience in which a rational self in the Western tradition is radically inverted, as well as other journal papers in psychiatry and clinical medicine. iii) In the third component, we will read and discuss social-economic works by Adam Smith who wrote The Wealth of Nations and by John Rawls A Theory of Justice where a specific notion of self concealed in the idea of “the veil of ignorance” is laid down as the foundation of an economic and political system. Part II: Practice i) Chinese and Daoist medicine: invited speaker and practitioner: 黃東榮中醫師 ii) Rehabilitation medicine: invited speaker and practitioner: 潘宣任物理治療師 iii) The creation of silence in music: 清水悟作曲家與笙演奏家 iv) Daoist shakuhachi and exercise: 莊智凱道長(尺八習練與正一仙功) v) Fieldtrip to 法鼓山: 果光法師 & 演一法師 (Buddhist meditation) vi) Fieldtrip to a herb farm forest in 新店: 黃東榮中醫師 Aside from the two main instructors Professors Cheng and Tu, this seminar will invite a special guest 盧清佑醫師to co-host several practice-based meetings. Dr. Lu is a residency doctor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at National Taiwan University Hospital as well as a Daoist monk in practice.

Most updated and comprehensive research papers to be consulted in class can be found in the following weblink: http://www.georgnorthoff.com/

Participants are required to take turn leading discussions in the seminar meetings, and write a term paper at the end of the semester. Participants are encouraged to turn his or her term paper into a research project to carry out further.

We will rely on Georg Northoff’s most recent book Neurowaves (2023), Monima Chadha’s Selfless Mind the original texts of the Zhuangzi and Buddha, and other most updated journal papers in the areas of science, medicine, and philosophy as the main reading materials. Other reading materials suitable for each class meeting will be assigned before each class meeting. 1) Inverting Reality: Zhuangzi on Self and Personal Identity (book manuscript) 2) Selfless Minds: A Contemporary Perspective on Vasubandhu’s Metaphysics, Oxford University Press, 2023. 3) Minding the Brain: Introduction to Philosophy and Neuroscience, by Georg Northoff, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014. 4) The Spontaneous Brain: From the Mind-Body to the World-to-Brain Problem, by Georg Northoff, The MIT Press, 2018. 5) Neurowaves: Brain, Time, and Consciousness, by Georg Northoff, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023. 6) The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith 7) A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls 8) Assigned journal papers

地點

Zhi-Hsin Building, Office 329

時間

Thursdays, 2-5PM, or by appointments

聯絡方式

kcheng1970@nycu.edu.tw (02) 28267963