Talk by Dr Peter Hacker, Oxford University

Mereology is the logic of part/whole relations. One kind of mereological mistake is that of misguidedly attributing properties of wholes to their parts. Some holistic properties cannot licitly be ascribed to parts: aeroplanes fly, but their engines cannot be said to fly; antique clocks keep time but their fusées cannot be said to keep time. A widespread mistake in cognitive neuroscience is to attribute to the human brain properties that can be intelligibly attributed only to the living human being as a whole. The brain is commonly held to perceive, to think, to feel emotions, and to intend to do things. These are category mistakes that lead to widespread fallacies in the reasoning of neuroscientists. The rationale of the mereological fallacy in neuroscience will be explained and objections will be refuted.

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