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Neuroeconomics has emerged as a paradigmatic field where neuroscience and the social sciences are integrated in one analytical and empirical approach. However, the different disciplines involved often only relate to each other via the shared object of research, and less through the constructing of precise models of integrative mechanisms.
Social Neuroeconomics explores the potential of philosophical and methodological reflections in the neurosciences and the social sciences to inform those efforts at cross-disciplinary integration, with a special focus on recent contributions to mechanistic explanations. The collected essays are drawn from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, economics, sociology and philosophy, and examine the ways and methods of constructing unified conceptual frameworks that can guide empirical work and hypothesis building. This is demonstrated in a range of applications, particularly regarding finance and consumer behavior. The concept of the 'social brain' is also explored; a multilevel framework in which complex analytical categories such as emotions or socially mediated cognitive processes connect neuronal and social phenomena in specific mechanisms that generate behavior.
This book addresses a wide audience across the various disciplines, reaching from the neurosciences to the social sciences and philosophy.
List of contents
(1) Introduction Part 1 - Mechanistic frames for cross-disciplinary integration in social neuroeconomics (2) Neuroeconomics as a case of mechanistic integration (3) Integrating with Mechanisms: Neuroscience and Social Science (4) Mechanistic Integration of Social Sciences and Neurosciences: Context and Causality in Social Neuroeconomics Part 2: Mechanistic methodology and methods in social neuroeconomics (5) Neuroeconomics of Cooperation Heuristics: The Role of Incentives, Social Cues, and Hormones (6) Constitutive Inference and Research Methods in Social Neuroeconomics Part 3: The social neuroeconomics of individual behaviour in context (7) Akrasia and addiction. Neurophilosophy and psychological mechanisms (8) Social ecology of normative reasoning (9) Economics, Social Neuroscience, and Mindshaping Part 4: Social neuroeconomics, institutions and interventions (10) The Application of Descriptive Theories of Human Cognition and Decision Making in Policy Making and Regulation (11) Neuroscience of autonomy and paternalistic policies (12) Social updating: An intuitionist approach to explaining decision-making under risk and uncertainty (13) Scopic systems and decision-making in financial markets
About the author
Jens Harbecke is Professor for Theoretical Philosophy and Philosophy of the Social Sciences at Witten/Herdecke University, Germany.
Carsten Herrmann-Pillath is Professor and Permanent Fellow at the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt, Germany.
Summary
Social Neuroeconomics explores the potential of philosophical and methodological reflections in the neurosciences and the social sciences to inform efforts at cross-disciplinary integration, with a special focus on recent contributions to mechanistic explanations.
Report
"The book presents an outstanding collection of articles on the philosophical foundations of neuroeconomics and social neuroscience. It is a must-read for philosophers interested in economics and neuroeconomics. However, it is also highly recommended to decision neuroscientists wanting to ground their empirical research in philosophical concepts." - Camillo Padoa-Schioppa, Washington University in St. Louis, USA.
