Neuroepistemology, deconstructivism and the contextual sculpting of mind/brain : a meta-analysis and new operations of distinctions

D. Litt. et Phil.As its basic point of departure this thesis has a "neuro-epistemological" concern in that it aims to analyse the epistemological status of paradigms for modelling the organisation of brain processes and function. By rooting itself in a post-modernist frame of reference it aims to provide a contextually-driven meta-analysis of theories of brain function. This includes an analysis of the assumptive frameworks underlying both the current orthodoxy (the Computational Theory of Mind) and its polar opposite in ontological terms (the Microgenetic Theory). The latter theory is seen as being "subjugated" in the post-modernist sense via the implicit power relations held and practised through the hegemonic entrenchment of the former dominant discourse. An overview of the work of Maturana and Varela is then presented as a theory that has positioned itself as a Via Media between the two radically opposed ontologies. This Via Media is then critiqued from several angles in a way that lays the groundwork for a model of neural organization and function that is consistent with recent trends in the neurosciences as well as in cybernetics and that is offered as a candidate for a more useful Via Media. The general format of this new "Deconstructive Carving Model", which is applied at the levels of neurodevelopmental process, visual perception and consciousness is as follows: In the domain of explanation there is construed to occur a carving out of a form from a pre-given, featureless medium in a general direction from diffuse and amorphous to specific. This process, involving various active mechanisms, is constrained, guided or restrained (rather than informed) by local and global, internal and external contextual modulatory (rather than instructive) influences. It occurs in an iterative, dynamic manner that is systematic (rather than arbitrary) and is activity-dependent (rather than passive), utilizing both spatial and temporal mechanisms. Given the proposed nature of the nervous system as partially closed, the outcome of this interaction is seen as being state-dependent in that the very structure of the system (as partially open to environmental specification) will select what in the medium will serve as a perturbation and what it will allow as a con straining influence. Finally, a stable anchor for these multi-level processes is postulated in the form of relatively invariant peripheral body and body-image representational constraints