Editorial Overview – Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025) Journal of NeuroPhilosophy Published: 15 December 2025
The second issue of Volume 4 (2025) of the Journal of NeuroPhilosophy presents a rich and timely collection of contributions that reflect the journal’s core mission: to cultivate a rigorous dialogue between neuroscience, philosophy, ethics, and emerging technologies. This issue is particularly unified by a shared concern with agency, cognition, consciousness, and the changing boundaries between the biological, the artificial, and the conceptual. FULL TEXT ISSUE
The issue opens with a Letter from the Editors by Nandor Ludvig, “Toward a Truly Beneficial AI Companion: A Call for Dialogue with Authors and Readers of the Journal of NeuroPhilosophy.” This editorial sets the intellectual tone of the volume by inviting a reflective and participatory discussion on artificial intelligence—not merely as a tool, but as a companion shaping cognitive, ethical, and philosophical landscapes. The call emphasizes responsibility, interdisciplinarity, and mutual engagement between scholars and readers.
In the Review Articles section, Ikrar and Sophian provide a comprehensive synthesis in “The Neurobiology of Cognition in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: From Synaptic Plasticity to Cognitive Mapping.” This review bridges molecular and systems-level neuroscience with computational and AI-inspired frameworks, offering a valuable roadmap for understanding cognition at the intersection of biological learning mechanisms and artificial models.
The Opinion and Perspectives section forms the conceptual backbone of this issue. Guerreiro’s “Do We Have Free Will, or Is Everything Predetermined? A Neuroethics Dilemma” revisits one of philosophy’s most enduring questions through the lens of contemporary neuroscience and ethical responsibility. Complementing this, Yao and colleagues examine moral asymmetries in “Double Standards in Moral Judgments Within Intimate Relationships,” integrating psychological, social, and ethical dimensions. Guerreiro and Ventura’s contribution on “The Influence of the Gut–Brain Axis on the Mind–Body Problem” extends classical philosophical debates into emerging neurobiological territory, while Goutos’ “Telepresence, the Brain, and Consciousness” interrogates how mediated presence challenges traditional notions of embodiment and subjective experience.
The Hypothesis and Theory section features “The Evolutionary and Biophysical Determinants of Maximum Lifespan” by Sultan Tarlacı, which proposes an integrative framework combining scaling laws, brain size, and evolutionary constraints to explore the limits of human longevity and its future projections. This work exemplifies the journal’s openness to bold, theory-driven contributions grounded in empirical reasoning.
Empirical inquiry continues in the Articles section with Durso’s “Art as Artifact: An Empirical Approach to Locating its Hedonic Function,” which offers a data-informed perspective on aesthetic experience, situating art within neurocognitive and affective frameworks.
The section Philosophy for Neuroscientists reinforces the journal’s translational ethos. Horne’s “What Is Authentic Personal Identity? A Philosopher Asks Neuroscientists” challenges empirical researchers to reconsider identity not merely as a neural construct, but as a philosophically loaded concept demanding conceptual clarity alongside measurement.
Finally, the issue concludes with a reflective Letter by Bucci, “Letter on Alzheimer’s Disease in Light of My Research and the Distinction Between the Mental and the Physical.” This contribution offers a personal and theoretical meditation on neurodegeneration, underscoring the enduring relevance of the mind–body distinction in clinical and philosophical contexts.
Taken together, Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025) exemplifies the Journal of NeuroPhilosophy’s commitment to interdisciplinary depth, conceptual rigor, and intellectual openness. The issue invites readers not only to consume knowledge, but to participate in an ongoing conversation about what it means to think, choose, create, and exist in an era increasingly shaped by neuroscience and artificial intelligence.
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Call for Contributions – Preview of Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026)
Free to Read, Free to Publish
The preview of our upcoming issue, Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026), is now available. This issue is being prepared under our free to read – free to publish open-access policy and will be published in PDF format.
All accepted manuscripts are published immediately as Early View PDFs, ensuring rapid dissemination of research without waiting for the official issue release. This approach allows authors to share their work promptly and enables readers to engage with new findings at the earliest possible stage.
In the coming weeks, additional PEDF files will be included in the issue. We warmly invite researchers, scholars, and clinicians to submit their contributions so they can be reviewed, accepted, and published online as Early View PDFs.
The current preview already features Review Articles, Opinion and Perspectives, Hypothesis and Theory papers, and Original Articles, reflecting the interdisciplinary scope of the issue.
As we step into the New Year, we extend our warmest wishes to our authors, reviewers, and readers. May 2026 be a year of intellectual curiosity, creative thinking, meaningful dialogue, and scientific progress. We hope the coming year brings new ideas, productive collaborations, and inspiring discoveries across neuroscience, philosophy, and their many intersections.
Happy New Year, and best wishes for a healthy, thoughtful, and innovative year ahead.
— The Editorial Team
