We Are More Than Our Brains: Putting our minds to neuroscience

'We are our brains' has been the mantra of neuroscience. This materialist approach has helped to unlock the secrets of the brain. It has transformed psychology, revolutionised psychiatry, exposed the gremlins in our thinking, and given us a new language to talk about ourselves.

But this is only half of our story. Just as our brain is made by genes and biology, so is our mind shaped by culture and experience. We are more than our brains. We are integrated mind-brains.

Neuroscience has energised our traditional ways of thinking about who we are and how our mind works, but it has not replaced them. If we are to talk meaningfully about self, free will, consciousness, and the moral challenges we face, we need to rethink the old questions in the light of new knowledge and understanding.

We need to tell the whole story of our mind and brain as an evolutionary partnership at the heart of our lived experience.