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Become a better neuroscientist

Philosophy of Neuroscience

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Contribute to a better understanding of neuroscience

Advances in neuroscience not only open doors to an unprecedented ability to explain, predict and control human behaviour, but also raise philosophical and ethical questions about their potential risks, benefits and broader societal consequences.

What are the implications of neurotechnologies such as deep brain stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation for our understanding of self and personal identity? When is neuroscientific evidence admissible in a court of law? How can we translate fundamental neuroscientific insights into psychiatric practice?

Other questions concern the scientific practice of neuroscience itself. What sort of explanation do neuroscientists provide? Is there a method or model that unifies the various neuroscientific sub-disciplines? What justifies the claim that mental disorders are caused by dysfunctional brain mechanisms? In this Master's programme, you’ll address issues like these at the interface of neuroscience, philosophy and psychiatry. You’ll learn how to communicate about these issues with non-academic parties (like patients, health practitioners and policymakers), and you’ll contribute to a better practical understanding of neuroscience and its implications.

This is a small-scale programme, meaning you’ll work a lot in small groups and receive plenty of attention from the teaching staff. But you’ll also benefit from working with students and teachers whose backgrounds are in different disciplines. All students following a Philosophy specialisation take the core introductory philosophy courses, which means you’ll come into contact with people specialising in bioethics or law as well.

Most students in the Philosophy of Neuroscience programme have a background in neuroscience, and follow a second Master’s programme at the same time – such as the Neuroscience Research Master’s at VUmc. This means you’ll come out with two Master’s degrees – it’s a tough study load but an attractive proposition for future employers or academic institutions.

The start date of this programme is September 1st.

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VU Online Master's Event - Fall 2024

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Year 1

In your first year, you’ll take three courses relating to your other Master’s during the daytime, and four introductory philosophy courses in the evenings. Year one is hard work in terms of study load, so you’ll need to be prepared to roll your sleeves up.
As well as studying a basic history of philosophy, from ancient times to modern day, you’ll learn about normative ethics – asking yourself how human beings can co-exist when we subscribe to different ethical theories, such as virtue ethics, utilitarianism, Kantian ethics and so on. You’ll also learn about the scientific method, finding out what makes knowledge scientific knowledge, and asking whether objective knowledge is possible.

Courses

  • Philosophy of Science: Disciplines and Themes
  • Normative Ethics
  • Political and Social Philosophy
  • History of Philosophy
  • Electives:
    • From Molecule to Mind
    • Statistics in Neurosciences
    • Clinical neurosciences
    • Genetics in Neuroscience
    • Neurogenomics

You will find the study programme in our studyguide.

Year 2

In your second year, you’ll dive more deeply into neurophilosophy.

In the course Philosophy of Mind, Brain and Behaviour, you’ll engage with ‘4E Cognition’ approaches, according to which cognition is embodied, embedded, enacted and extended, and investigate their impact on contemporary debates on the mind-body problem and debates on the nature and treatment of psychiatric disorders.

In the Neuroscientific Explanation course, you’ll focus on three central topics in the philosophy of neuroscience: mechanistic explanation, network models and the concept of causation. We invite neuroscientists working on current cases to discuss their projects with students – for example, a recent case involved a researcher working on a network model of multiple sclerosis.

In the course Neurophilosophy, Phenomenology and Subjectivity, you’ll examine the role of first-person subjective reports (e.g. by a patient) in neuroscientific research, and look for ways to incorporate subjectivity in solving scientific problems. Topics span from philosophical discussions surrounding the naturalization of consciousness to the application of qualitative study designs and their role in guiding neuroscientific investigations.

In the course Neurophilosophy and Psychiatry, you’ll look at how neuroscience shapes our understanding of mental health. You investigate different perspectives on the nature of mental disorders, ranging from views that classify them as brain disfunctions to views that conceptualize them as socially deviant behavior, and explore questions about research methodologies, diagnostic practices and treatment options.

Of course, neuroscience has ethical and societal implications, and affects practices like law and psychiatry. In the Neuroethics and Society course we discuss how neuroscience confronts us with moral concerns about cognitive enhancement, "mind-reading" and lie-detection, military applications and forms of health surveillance, but also how it can be instrumental in promoting health and wellbeing, for instance in deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease and psychopathology.

In the Key Concepts course, you’ll focus on a research area of your choice. You collaborate with neuroscientists in that areas and develop your own research project in which you examine a specific key concept in neuroscience and its related philosophical/ethical implications – asking how your findings can be translated to other parties.

Finally, you’ll write your Master’s thesis on a topic of your choice, at the interface between philosophy and neuroscience. For example, you could write a thesis on the concept of explanation in network neuroscience, on whether mental illnesses are solely ‘in the head’, or on the ethical consequences of Deep Brain Stimulation.

Courses

  • Master Thesis (2 year program)
  • Ethics of Medical Research
  • Philosophy of Mind, Brain and Behaviour
  • Key Concepts
  • Neurophilosophy, Phenomenology and Subjectivity
  • Philosophical Text Reading
  • Neurophilosophy and Psychiatry
  • Neuroscientific Explanation
  • Neuroethics and Society

You will find the study programme in our studyguide.

Change your future with the Philosophy of Neuroscience programme

Change your future with the Philosophy of Neuroscience programme

In a nutshell, having completed the Philosophy of Neuroscience programme you’ll be a better neuroscientist. That’s because you’ll have developed sensitivity to, and awareness of, the broader societal and scientific context in which neuroscience is practiced. This is extremely valuable, whether you decide to continue in academia or work as a scientist in the field.

Explore your future prospects

Questions about the courses or study programme?

Please contact the coordinator