Претворяването на Поликаров: дивергентно-конвергентният метод при решаване на психофизичния проблем
Resurrection of Polikarov: the divergent-convergent method in solving the mind-brain problem

Author(s): Drozdstoj Stoyanov
Subject(s): Philosophy, Epistemology, Philosophy of Science
Published by: Axia Academic Publishers
Keywords: divergent-convergent method; mind-brain problem; neuroscience; neuroimaging
Summary/Abstract: The psychophysical problem defines the hybrid structure of the shared field of neuroscience and psychopathology. In that field there collide nomothetic and ideographic notions and methods, which imply very often heterogeneous meaning. This paves the ground for the incoherence in the theories of mental life, which vary from extreme and deterministic forms of reductive materialism to incongruent tacit positions of interactionist dualism. By means of Polikarov’s divergent-convergent method we were able to trace the co-evolution of neuroscience and the sciences about mental health, through divergent field of possible solutions in the discourse of the XIX century, to a reduced group of predominant project-solutions based on evidence from neuroscience. This group is comprised of identity theory of mind, applied to more basic mental phenomena, and supervenience theory of mind, applied to complex psychological functions. Those project-decisions were tested empirically by use of innovative paradigm for functional magnetic-resonance imaging of the brain, where brain signal is registered simultaneously with the item responses to psychological diagnostic tools. The results support to a great extent the proposed project-solutions of the psychophysical problem in psychopathology. Our data on conceptual, empirical and meta-empirical level confirm the validity of the heuristic divergent-convergent method for problem solving, by Polikarov on transdisciplinary level.

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