Patricia Churchland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Patricia Churchland
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| Born |
Patricia Smith
July 16, 1943 Oliver, British Columbia, Canada
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| Alma mater | University of British Columbia University of Pittsburgh Somerville College, Oxford |
| Spouse(s) | Paul Churchland |
| Era | 20th-/21st-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Analytic philosophy |
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Main interests
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Neurophilosophy Philosophy of mind Philosophy of science Medical and environmental ethics |
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Notable ideas
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Neurophilosophy, Eliminative Materialism |
Patricia Smith Churchland (born 16 July 1943) is a Canadian-American philosopher. She is famous for her work in neurophilosophy and the philosophy of mind. Neurophilosophy is a field that combines the study of the brain (neuroscience) with philosophy. The philosophy of mind explores what the mind is and how it works.
Patricia Churchland is a professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). She has taught there since 1984. She also works at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, a famous research center. She is married to another philosopher, Paul Churchland. People sometimes talk about their work as if it were done by one person because their ideas are so similar.
Contents
About Patricia Churchland
Her Early Life and School
Patricia Smith was born in Oliver, British Columbia, Canada. She grew up on a farm. Her parents did not finish high school, but they loved science. They wanted Patricia to go to college, even though some people in their community thought it was a waste of money.
She went to the University of British Columbia and graduated in 1965. Then, she studied at the University of Pittsburgh and earned a master's degree in 1966. She also studied at Somerville College, Oxford in England.
Her Career in Academia
Churchland started her teaching career at the University of Manitoba in 1969. There, she began to formally study neuroscience. This field looks at how the nervous system, including the brain, works.
In 1984, she moved to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Her husband, Paul, also joined her there. Since 1989, she has also worked at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. She met Jonas Salk, who founded the institute, and Francis Crick, a famous scientist, there. Both encouraged her work in neurophilosophy.
At the Salk Institute, Churchland worked with Terrence Sejnowski. Together, they wrote a book called The Computational Brain in 1993. This book explored how the brain processes information like a computer. She led the Philosophy Department at UCSD from 2000 to 2007.
Her Family Life
Patricia Churchland met her husband, Paul Churchland, when they were both students. They married after she finished her studies at Oxford. They have two children, Mark and Anne, who are both neuroscientists. Patricia Churchland is considered an atheist, meaning she does not believe in a god. However, she has also described herself as a pantheist, which means she sees the universe itself as divine.
Her Philosophical Ideas
Patricia Churchland believes that philosophy should work closely with science. She thinks that to truly understand the mind, we need to understand the brain. She uses discoveries from neuroscience to answer old philosophical questions. These questions are about things like knowledge, free will, consciousness, and ethics (what is right and wrong).
She is known for a way of thinking called eliminative materialism. This idea suggests that some of our everyday ideas about the mind, like "thoughts" or "feelings," might change. As scientists learn more about the brain, these common ideas might be replaced by more scientific explanations of how the brain works.
Awards and Recognitions
Patricia Churchland has received many awards for her important work:
- MacArthur Fellowship, 1991
- Humanist Laureate, International Academy of Humanism, 1993
- Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of Virginia, 1996
- Honorary Doctor of Law, University of Alberta, 2007
- Distinguished Cognitive Scientist, UC, Merced Cognitive and Information Sciences program, 2011
- Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society, 2011
Her Books
Books She Wrote Alone
- Neurophilosophy: Toward a Unified Science of the Mind-Brain. (1986)
- Brain-Wise: Studies in Neurophilosophy. (2002)
- Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality. (2011)
- Touching A Nerve: The Self As Brain. (2013)
- Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition. (2019)
Books She Wrote or Edited with Others
- The Computational Brain. (1992) with T. J. Sejnowski.
- Neurophilosophy and Alzheimer's Disease. (1992) Edited with Y. Christen.
- The Mind-Brain Continuum (1996). Edited with R.R. Llinás.
- On the Contrary: Critical Essays 1987-1997. (1998). with Paul M. Churchland.
See also
In Spanish: Patricia Churchland para niños
- Eliminative materialism
- Neurophilosophy
- Philosophy of mind
