抄録
Recently, there has been a big boom of neuroscience in Japan. It is the
governmental policy of science aiming at the application of neuroscience to
the domain of education that has given rise to this boom. In this paper, I
would like to examine the possibilities of the application of neuroscience to
the domain of education from the viewpoint of the philosophy of mind, and
also to argue about its ethical problems from the viewpoint of ethics.
In conclusion, I will maintain that we cannot expect too much of the
effective result from the application of neuroimaging techniques (e.g. PET,
fMRI,and NIRS)to the domain of education. There are many technical and
theoretical problems and difficulties in doing neuroimaging research on the
mechanism of high brain functions. The most serious problem in neuroscience
consists in its most basic assumption of the mind-brain identity theory
and the reductionism that is derived from that identity theory. In the latest
trend of the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, a new concept called
“the extended mind”has been proposed which denies the mind-brain identity
theory. According to the extended mind thesis,the mind is realized not only
in the brain, but in the wider system of body plus environment. The role of
education is to facilitate learners to reconstruct their relations with the
environment in order to develop their capabilities. Finally, I will argue that
there is a possible danger that the application of reductionistic neuroscience
to the domain of education may serve to produce the “medicalisation”and
“psychologisation”of education and to intensify the bio-power in society.
https://ror.org/00x194q47 
