Breaking through the ontological confines of biological materialism in cognitive science

摘要

Cognitive science has successfully broken down the barriers between biology, physics, neuroscience, psychology, and anthropology through "interdisciplinary integration," a pioneering approach that adopts integrative thinking and research methods. Cognitive science studies mind-related phenomena, an area that has been long ignored by physical sciences but is always at the heart of humanities, arts and social sciences. Unfortunately, since it grounds its study of the mind in mental-material monism, cognitive science ascribes all mental functions to physiological phenomena produced by the "brain map" and is essentially jumping into the quandary of biological materialism. Without positive ontology as its theoretical basis to adequately account for the ontological entity that underlies the neuroplasticity achieved by genetic transcription, cognitive science will either box itself in the confines of biological materialism or be besieged by all sorts of irresolvable philosophical paradoxes. This article proposes the eighth vijnana of Buddhism to be the positivist ontological entity of the mind. The eighth vijnana is neither mind nor material, yet can give rise to both as well as all mental functions. In other words, it is the basis of our mental schema. Moreover, since the existence of the eighth vijnana can be realized and verified by each and every person, its nature is in conformance with the positivist spirit of science. It is hoped that the understanding of the eighth vijnana can provide vital indications for research and rethinking in cognitive science, which, given its interdisciplinary spirit, should be receptive to any suggestions conducive to its research development.