La Función Cortical y la Libertad: Debate introductorio de los Cimientos Neuronales para la Manipulación Social - Cortical Function and Freedom: Introductory Discussion of the Neural Foundations for Social Manipulation

Abstract

This research article explores the theory of the foundations of freedom proposed by J. Fuster, based on the function that he attributes to the prefrontal cortex and its incidence in manipulation exercises. Through a documentary analysis and the hermeneutic-interpretative method, it seeks to establish the connections between cortical functions and the capacity of the social individual to induce actions in others without resorting to coercive mechanisms.

The paper exposes the functions assigned to the prefrontal cortex and their incidence in the perception-action cycle, confronting Fuster's proposal, who conceives freedom as a neural function, with the perspectives of contemporary philosophy in treatises on power and discourse. In this framework, the reflections of authors such as Byung-Chul Han on the subject of performance and self-exploration as invisible forms of domination are incorporated, as well as the contributions of Teun A. van Dijk from the critical analysis of discourse, which show how the control of language and context constitute a privileged mechanism for the development of social manipulation.

In this way, the article proposes an interdisciplinary dialogue between neuroscience and philosophy, showing how freedom, far from being a purely cortical condition, is traversed by the discursive and contextual dynamics that legitimize practices of power and domination in contemporary society.