Patricia Churchland is a professor of philosophy at the University of California, San Diego. Her work explores the impact of scientific developments on our understanding of consciousness, the self, free will, decision making, ethics, learning, and religion, and issues concerning the neurobiological basis of consciousness, the self, and free will. Her recent books include Touching a Nerve: The Self as Brain (WW Norton, 2013) and Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality (Princeton, 2011) which the Guardian described as "superbly written" and "dense-with-thinking."
Further reading
Do we have free will? Neuroscience, and behavioural biology more generally, are gradually revealing the mechanisms that make us who we are, says Patricia Churchland
Two brains: Marriage and the mind-body problem. A profile of Patricia and Paul Churchland by Larissa MacFarquhar
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Further reading
Do we have free will? Neuroscience, and behavioural biology more generally, are gradually revealing the mechanisms that make us who we are, says Patricia Churchland
Two brains: Marriage and the mind-body problem. A profile of Patricia and Paul Churchland by Larissa MacFarquhar
Return to World Thinkers 2014 voting form