EC Neurology

Opinion Volume 15 Issue 7 - 2023

Modules in the Brain and Our Versions of the World

Hans Lenk*

Professor, Department of Philosophy, KIT/Karlsruhe, Germany

*Corresponding Author: Hans Lenk, Professor, Department of Philosophy, KIT/Karlsruhe, Germany.
Received: June 07, 2023; Published: June 29, 2023



Mental (or mental) renditions and representations in the brain occur according to the so-called "building block" principle: brain and mind are organized in modules and do indeed work modularly.

Jerry Fodor's [1] definition of ‘modularity’ is methodologically speaking dependent on using building-blocks: this structural property means that it belongs to and works via functional units that are:

  • Operating relatively quickly,
  • Autonomously, quasi automatically,
  • Remain area-specific,
  • Are informationally closed, and
  • Are furthermore “binding”, i.e. would "necessarily" respond to each relevant stimulus. (This latter property is of course related to automaticity).

Modularity, according to Fodor's thesis, is characteristic for many of the brain processes, especially for the representation of the mental. This thesis has however been criticized many times.

Nevertheless, it can be said that serious - even intentional (i.e. content-oriented) - models of the representation of the mental, especially representations by schemas (“scheme-representations”), are modular or almost modular (quasi-modular or pseudo-modular).

  1. Fodor JA. “The Modularity of Mind”. Cambridge, MA: MIT (1983).
  2. Posner MI and Raichle ME. “Bilder des Geistes”. Heidelberg (1996).
  3. Alkon DL. “Cellullar analysis of a gastropod (Hermissenda crassicornis)”. Model of Associative Learning the Biological Bulletin3 (1980): 505-560.
  4. Alkon DL. “Gedächtnisspuren in Nervensystemen und künstliche neuronale Netze”. Ibid (1987): 84-93.
  5. Alkon DL. “Memory Traces in The Brain”. Cambridge UP (1988).
  6. Hebb DO. “The Organization of Behavior”. New York: Wiley (1949).
  7. Alkon DL. “Eine Meeresschnecke als Lernmodell”. In: Singer (1990): 72-83.
  8. Lenk H. “Interpretationskonstrukte”. Frankfurt/M (1993).
  9. Lenk H. “Schemaspiele”. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp (1995).
  10. Lenk H. Bewusstsein als Schemainterpretation: Paderborn: mentis (2004).
  11. Lenk H. “Global TechnoScience and Responsibility”. Berlin: LIT (2007).
  12. Lenk H. “Scheme Dynamics”. Bochum – Freiburg: Projektverlag (2017).
  13. Spitzer M. “Geist im Netz”. Heidelberg: Spektrum (‘1996).
  14. Lenk H. “Einführung in die Erkenntnistheorie: Interpretation - Interaktion - Intervention”. Munich (UTB): Fink (1998).
  15. Lassen NA., et al. “Hirnfunktionen und Hirndurchblutung”. In: N. N.: (Edition.): Gehirn und Nervensystem. Heidelberg: Spektrum (1987): 134-143.
  16. Singer W (Edition). Gehirn und Kognition. Heidelberg: Spektrum (1990).
  17. Lenk H. “Creativity and Responsibility”. Bochum - Freiburg: Projektverlag (2020).
  18. Lenk H. “Grasping Reality”. Singapore: World Scientific (2003).
  19. Singer W. “Zur Selbstorganisation kognitiver Strukturen”. In: Appel, E. (Edition): Gehirn und Bewusstsein. Weinheim: VHC (1989): 45-58.
  20. Roth G. “Kognition – Die Entstehung von Bedeutung im Gehirn”. In: Krohn, W. - Küppers, G. (Editions): Emergenz. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp (1992): 104-133.
  21. Roth G. “Das Gehirn und seine Wirklichkeit”. Frankfurt /M.: Suhrkamp (1994).
  22. Abel G. “Interpretationswelten”. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp (1993).
  23. Bieri P. “Was macht Bewusstsein zu einem Rätsel?”. Spektrum der Wissenschaft 10 (1992): 48-56.
  24. Calvin WH and Ojemann GA. “Einsicht ins Gehirn”. Munich: dtv (1995): 2000.
  25. Churchland PM. “Die Seelenmaschine”. Heidelberg: Spektrum 1997 (1995).
  26. Damasio AR. “Descartes' Irrtum”. Munich: DTV (1998).
  27. Dennett DC. “Consciousness Explained”. New York: Little, Brown 1991 (quot.: Philosophie des menschlichen Bewusstseins. Hamburg: Hoffmann and Campe (1994).
  28. Engel AK., et al. “Bildung repräsentativer Zustände im Gehirn”. Spektrum 9 (1993): 42-47.
  29. Flanagan O. “Consciousness Reconsidered”. Cambridge, MA (2nd Edition) (1992).
  30. Flohr R. “Brain Processes and Phenomenal Consciousness”. Theory and Psychology2 (1991): 245-262.
  31. Flohr R. “Die physiologischen Bedingungen des phänomenalen Bewusstseins”. Forum for Interdisciplinary Research 5 (1992): 49-55.
  32. Fodor JA. “The Language of Thought Revisited”. New York and Oxford: Oxford UP (2008).
  33. Gazzaniga MS and Le Doux JE. “Neuropsychologische Integration kognitiver Prozesse”. Stuttgart: Enke (1983).
  34. Gazzaniga MS. “Brain Modularity: towards a philosophy of conscious experience”. In: Marcel, A. J. - Bisiach, E. (Editions) (1988): 218-238.
  35. Gazzaniga MS. “Consciousness and the cerebral hemispheres”. In: Gazzaniga, M. S. (Edition): The Cognitive Neurosciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT (1995): 1391-1399.
  36. Gazzaniga MS. “Das erkennende Gehirn”. Paderborn: mentis (1989).
  37. Goodman N. “Ways of Worldmaking”. Indianapolis: IN Hackett (8th Edition) (1977).
  38. Hedrich R. “Erkenntnis und Gehirn”. Paderborn: mentis (1998).
  39. Johnson-Laird PN. “Mental Models”. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP (1983).
  40. Kandel ER. “Kleine Verbände von Nervenzellen”. In: N. N. (Edition.): Gehirn und Nervensystem. Heidelberg: Spektrum (1987): 76-85.
  41. Lenk H. “Gespaltenes Gehirn – gespaltener Geist? In: T and E- Neurologie - Psychiatrie 12 (1998): 278-287.
  42. Lenk H. “Zu einem methodologischen Interpretationskonstruktionismus”. Journal for General Philosophy of Science 22 (1991): 283-302.
  43. Lenk H. “Philosophie und Interpretation”. Frankfurt/M. Suhrkamp (1993a).
  44. Lenk H. “Schemainterpretationen als Hirnkonstrukte?” In: T and E- Neurologie - Psychiatrie 11 (1997): 569-573.
  45. Lenk H. “Outline of Systematic Schema Interpretation”. In: Dahlstrom, D. O. (Edition.): Proceedings of the 20th World Congress of Philosophy, Contemporary Philosophy. Bowling Green OH: Philos. Doc. Ctr 8 (2000): 121-132.
  46. Lenk H. “Not a Long Way to Concrete Humanity?” Bochum: Projektverlag (2019).
  47. Lenk H. “Responsibility in Science”. In: Mieg, H. (Edition.): Responsibility of Science. Cham/Switzerland: Springer (2022): 11-50.
  48. Malsburg C. “Von der: Am I Thinking Assemblies?” In: G. Palm, Aertsen, A. (Eds.): Brain Theory. Berlin Heidelberg New York (1986): 161-176.
  49. Marcel AJ and Bisiach E. Consciousness in Contemporary Science, Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford UP (1988).
  50. McGinn C. “Mental Content”. Oxford Basil Blackwell (1989).
  51. McGinn C. “The Problem of Consciousness”. Oxford: Basil Blackwell (1991).
  52. Millikan RG. “Language, Thought and Other Biological Categories”. Cambridge MA (1984).
  53. (Edition). Spektrum Gehirn und Nervensystem. Heidelberg (1987).
  54. Puccetti R. “The case for mental duality: Evidence from split brain data”. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 4 (1981): 93-123.
  55. Roth G and Prinz W (Editions). Kopf-Arbeit. Heidelberg: Spektrum (1996).
  56. Roth G. “Das konstruktive Gehirn”. In: Schmidt, S. J. (Edition.): Kognition und Gesellschaft. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp (1992): 277-336.
  57. Springer SP. “Deutsch, G.: Linkes - rechtes Gehirn”. Heidelberg: Spektrum (1987).
  58. Young JZ. “Philosophie und das Gehirn”. Basel. Birkhäuser (1989).

Hans Lenk. “Modules in the Brain and Our Versions of the World”. EC Neurology  15.7 (2023): 29-38.