The mind-brain relationship and the cause/reason question

Doctoral Program in Philosophy, Epistemology, and Human Sciences

University of Cagliari, Department of Pedagogy, Psychology, and Philosophy

Course Title : The Mind-Brain Relationship and the Cause/Reason Question

N. ore: 6

Teachers (email and related SSD sector(s):

• Professor Maria Regina Brioschi (mariaregina.brioschi@unica.it; Phil-01/A)
• Prof. Vinicio Busacchi  (busacchi@unica.it; Phil-01/A)

Short bio/bibliography :

• Maria Regina Brioschi is full professor of theoretical philosophy (University of Cagliari) and an active member of the Peirce Research Group (http://peirce.unimi.it/en/351-2/). She is currently working on Peirce’s unpublished manuscripts. Her interests vary from continental philosophy (including phenomenology and post-structuralism) to the history of logic and semiotics, from creative studies to feminist epistemology. So far, her research has focused on pragmatism and process philosophy, specifically on creativity, cosmology, the intertwinement of experience, language and reason, and the connections between logic and metaphysics.  She is the author of Creativity between Experience and Cosmos. C.S. Peirce and A.N. Whitehead on Novelty (Verlag Karl Alber, 2020), and edited the new Italian translation of A.N. Whitehead’s Process and reality (Processo e realtà, Bompiani 2019).
• Vinicio Busacchi is full professor of theoretical philosophy. He is a member of the Doctoral Committee at the Department of Pedagogy, Psychology, and Philosophy at the University of Cagliari (Italy), a member of the interdisciplinary research group on “Psychoanalysis, Hermeneutics and Phenomenology” (LAPEF, Rome), a member of the Postgraduate Program in Philosophy at Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS) and a representative (correspondent) of the Fonds Ricoeur of Paris for Italy. He is cofounder and codirector of Critical Hermeneutics. Biannual International Journal of Philosophy (ISSN 2533-1825). His published works include Ricœur vs. Freud (Paris, 2011), Pour une herméneutique critique (Paris, 2013), The Recognition Principle (Newcastle, 2015); Habermas and Ricoeur’s Depth Hermeneutics (Cham, 2016); Philosophy & Human Revolution (Newcastle, 2018); Action, Intersubjectivity and Narrative Identity (Newcastle, 2019); La philosophie de l’action de Daisaku Ikeda (Paris, 2023); A Study of Daisaku Ikeda: Philosophy of Action between East and West (Newcastle, 2025); with G. Martini, Las transformaciones de la identidad (Barcellona, 2025).

Delivery method : Face-to-face and remote lessons (Teams platform)

Meeting schedule :

• Monday, November 16, 2026 – 5:05 PM – 7:50 PM
• Tuesday, November 17, 2026 – 5:05 PM – 7:50 PM

Classroom and/or Link : Classroom 7A. The link will be sent via email to PhD students and postdocs who request it.

Language : Italian

Preliminary knowledge required : none

Short description of the course :

Mind/Brain – the current state of research and debate; Causes/Motives – comparing perspectives; The contributions of hermeneutics and phenomenology), with a final review.
Despite the prevailing tendency toward causal modeling, we are far from cognitive advances and theoretical developments capable of fully explaining/justifying the absorption of motivation into causality, or the exclusion of motivation from constructs that include mental functioning and the dynamism of psychic life. In this regard, not only does psychoanalytic theory continue to constitute an important point of comparison today – specifically with regard to the question of causes/motives, but the contributions of hermeneutics and phenomenology are also strategic, both in relation to this question and in the context of research aimed at constructing an integrated model of mind-brain ‘reality.
‘ Areas of Study: Philosophy and History of Concepts; Logic and Epistemology.

Total CFU : 2

Bibliographic references : bibliographical references will be provided by the teachers during the lessons.

Final evaluation : Interview with participants at the end of the second day.

Other useful information :

The following diagram illustrates an example of workload calculation for a 6-credit module; it can be adapted proportionally to the different proposals.

CFU counting scheme (to be contextualized for the types of proposal)