The Spontaneous Brain

by Georg Northoff

Philosophers have long debated the mind- An argument for a Copernican

body problem—whether to attribute such
mental features as consciousness to mind or
revolution in our consideration
to body. Meanwhile, neuroscientists search for of mental features—a shift in
empirical answers, seeking neural correlates which the world-brain problem
for consciousness, self, and free will. In this
book, Georg Northoff does not propose new
supersedes the mind-body
solutions to the mind-body problem; instead, problem.
he questions the problem itself, arguing
that it is an empirically, ontologically, and
conceptually implausible way to address the
In The Spontaneous Brain,
existence and reality of mental features. We Georg Northoff argues we
are better off, he contends, by addressing need to give up on solving
consciousness and other mental features in
terms of the relationship between world and
the ancient and intractable
brain; philosophers should consider the world- mind-body problem and focus
brain problem rather than the mind-body instead on understanding
problem. This calls for a Copernican shift in
vantage point—from within the mind or brain
the brain-world relation—for
to beyond the brain—in our consideration of mental features. the dynamic spatiotemporal
alignment between brain and
Northoff, a neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and philosopher, explains that
empirical evidence suggests that the brain's spontaneous activity and its
world is what mindedness is.
spatiotemporal structure are central to aligning and integrating the brain This interesting, innovative
within the world. This spatiotemporal structure allows the brain to extend and closely argued volume
beyond itself into body and world, creating the “world-brain relation” that
is central to mental features. Northoff makes his argument in empirical,
is sure to be both productive
ontological, and epistemic-methodological terms. He discusses current and controversial. Highly
models of the brain and applies these models to recent data on neuronal recommended for anyone
features underlying consciousness and proposes the world-brain relation as
the ontological predisposition for consciousness.
interested in an alternate future
for the science of the mind.
Georg Northoff is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Mind, Brain Imaging,
and Neuroethics at the University of Ottawa. He is the author of Unlocking the Brain,
—Michael L. Anderson,
Neurophilosophy and the Healthy Mind and other books. Rotman Professor in
Philosophy of Science,
$50.00 Western University, Ontario
ISBN: 9780262038072
536 pp. | 6 in x 9 in
33 b&w illus.
October 2018

mitpress.mit.edu/books/spontaneous-brain