Initially published in 2022, dr. Annemarie van Stee’s thought-provoking book Love and Selfhood - Self-Understanding through Philosophy and Cognitive Neuroscience is now available in a softcover edition through Palgrave Macmillan.
From the publishers website:
After years of neurohype and a neuroskeptic backlash, this book provides a systematic analysis of the contributions to self-understanding cognitive neuroscience (CNS) and philosophy can make.
The stories of five people in search of self-understanding serve as touchstone throughout the book. Their identities are tied up with what they love. The book provides in-depth analyses of CNS of love and CNS of self-reflection. It critically discusses philosophers who focus on the relation between love, self-understanding and selfhood, such as Harry Frankfurt, Susan Wolf, Charles Taylor and Søren Kierkegaard. It also builds an argument about CNS’ contributions to self-understanding more broadly, and how different these are from philosophy’s contributions.
The book develops conceptual review as a philosophical method for improving the validity and comparability of CNS studies. It integrates CNS insights into its philosophical view on love and selfhood where applicable. This book thus argues and exemplifies that philosophy and CNS can work together.
For more information about Love and Selfhood - Self-Understanding through Philosophy and Cognitive Neuroscience and to place your order, please visit the official SpringerLink-page.
Annemarie van Stee is a philosopher at Radboud University. She researches ethical and existential questions surrounding love, meaningful and meaningless life, well-being and suffering. She is also interested in the role philosophy can play in interdisciplinary research, especially with the social sciences.