Reason as a Post-Hoc Construct: A Neurophilosophical Analysis of Rationality Without a Central Faculty
PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) April 2, 2026 Ally Delshad Tehrani
This paper develops a neurophilosophical account of rationality by arguing that what is commonly referred to as “reason” does not correspond to a unified or central faculty in the brain. Drawing on contemporary neuroscience, including predictive processing frameworks, distributed models of valuation, and prefrontal control systems, the paper shows that cognition emerges from the dynamic...