The Political Brain

The Emergence of Neuropolitics

Author: Matt Qvortrup Series: Ceu Press Perspectives and CEU Press Perspectives

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Description

We have politics on our mind—or, rather, we have politics in different parts of our brains. In this path-breaking study, Matt Qvortrup takes the reader on a whistle stop tour through the fascinating, and sometimes frightening, world of neuropolitics; the discipline that combines neuroscience and politics, and is even being used to win elections.

Putting the 'science' back into political science, The Political Brain shows how fMRI-scans can identify differences between Liberals and Conservatives, can predict our behaviour with sometimes greater accuracy than surveys, and can explain the biology of uprisings, revolutions, and wars.

Not merely a study of empirical evidence, the book shows how the philosophical theories of, among others, Plato, Aristotle, and Spinoza can be supported by brain scans. Along the way, it also provides an overview of the state-of-the-art knowledge of the organ that shapes our politics. The book shows that if we rely on evolutionary primitive parts of the midbrain—those engaged when we succumb to polarised politics—we stand in danger of squandering the gains we made through the last eight million years.

Critic Reviews

"The decisions and perceptions of voters and politicians are rooted in their brains but the neuroscience of politics is still a fledgling area of research. In this book, Matt Qvortrup frames the neuroscience research from the perspective of political philosophy, and thereby opens the door to a more coherent field of neuropolitics. Peppered with pertinent and fascinating examples from world politics, and throughout carefully informed by neuroscience studies, Qvortrup expertly builds a convincing case for the relevance of neuropolitics."

--Jakob Hohwy

About the Author

Professor Matt Qvortrup, Coventry University, studied human biology before gaining a doctorate in politics at The University of Oxford. A recognised expert on political theory and behaviour, he presented the BBC program 'The Political Brain' on BBC Radio4.