The neurosciences are experiencing explosive growth and, although many important questions concerning their social and cultural impact remain unanswered, the base of relevant historical case studies is glaringly inadequate. As a reslt, much philosophical discussion of the significance of neuroscience floats free of needed historical constraint. For example, while the debate between "eliminative" and "retentive" materialists has clarified issues raised by the confrontation of neurology and "folk psychology," it has not addressed the detail involved in efforts to unify cognitive neuroscience. The debate has been oversimplified by its reliance on a concept of inter-theoretic reduction based on misleading analogies between diachronic developments within a single field (eg. chemical analysis of combustion and its products) and synchronic relations between theories dealing with phenomena at different levels of organization or complexity. The case study which Dr. Manier is examining under this grant will contribute to the effort to remedy such deficits by examining the relationship between neuroscientific and psychological studies of the associative learning mechanism. Scientists in these fields are able to avail themselves of rigorous modes of experimental manipulation and their work is attracting widespread theoretical interest. Preliminary research has identified an apparent split between two cognitive approaches to the associative learning mechanism which could complicate efforts to integrate that research area with major developments in cellular and molecular neurobiology. With this grant, Dr. Manier will carry out on-site archival and ethnographic research and a series of structured interviews with principal scientists in order to clarify the details of this divergence and assess its implications for relations linking neuroscience and cognitive psychology. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide an appropriate historical basis for assessing philosophical views concerning the construction of unified scientific domains from previously disparate areas of research. This research is of great importance for both the history and the philosophy of science. Further, it provides a much needed philosophical survey of these fast-moving areas of the biological and cognitive sciences.
