The Self and Its Brain - Hardcover

Popper, Karl Raimund; Eccles, John C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0387083073 ISBN 13: 9780387083070

Publisher: Springer Verlag, 1977

Synopsis

The problem of the relation between our bodies and our minds, and espe­ cially of the link between brain structures and processes on the one hand and mental dispositions and events on the other is an exceedingly difficult one. Without pretending to be able to foresee future developments, both authors of this book think it improbable that the problem will ever be solved, in the sense that we shall really understand this relation. We think that no more can be expected than to make a little progress here or there. We have written this book in the hope that we have been able to do so. We are conscious of the fact that what we have done is very conjectur­ al and very modest. We are aware of our fallibility; yet we believe in the intrinsic value of every human effort to deepen our understanding of our­ selves and of the world we live in. We believe in humanism: in human rationality, in human science, and in other human achievements, however fallible they are. We are unimpressed by the recurrent intellectual fashions that belittle science and the other great human achievements. An additional motive for writing this book is that we both feel that the debunking of man has gone far enough - even too far. It is said that we had to learn from Copernicus and Darwin that man's place in the universe is not so exalted or so exclusive as man once thought. That may well be.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

The relation between body and mind is one of the oldest riddles that has puzzled mankind. That material and mental events may interact is accepted even by the law: our mental capacity to concentrate on the task can be seriously reduced by drugs. Physical and chemical processes may act upon the mind; and when we are writing a difficult letter, our mind acts upon our body and, through a chain of physical events, upon the mind of the recipient of the letter. the authors of this book stress that they cannot solve the body mind problem; but they hope that they have been able to shed new light on it.

Review:

." . . anyone with an interest in philosophy, science, and the future of the world should read it."
-"British Journal of Psychiatry
." . . a massive achievement . . . a theory of beautiful simplicity, with all the relevant data clearly set out down to recent research findings."
-"The Jerusalem Post

About this edition

• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Publication date: 1977
• ISBN 10: 0387083073
• ISBN 13: 9780387083070
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1