This collection of essays makes a lively contribution to the continuing scholarly debate about the relationship of mind and brain. Are “mind and brain” one and the same? How and where does “mind” or consciousness originate? Does it exist apart from the brain? As Mind and Brain delves into these specifics, it also confronts such broader questions as “Where does matter end and spirit begin?” “What is the essence of human nature and personality?” “Is there such a thing as an immortal soul?”

Sir John Eccles, winner of the Nobel Prize for his study of nerve transmission, edited the volume and authored many of its articles, including “Unity of Consciousness and Mind-Brain Theory,” “A Critical Appraisal of Mind-Brain Theories,” “The Human Brain and the Human Person,” “Cerebral Activity and the Freedom of the will,” “Culture–The Creation of Man and the Creator of Man” and “Natural Theological Speculations on Death and the Meaning of Life.”

Other contributors include: W. Norris Clarke, Duke L.VP.R. de Broglie, William Horsley Gantt, Ragnar A. Granit, Holger Hyden, Harry J. Jerison, Marius Jeuken, Brain D. Josephson, H. B. Jones, Benjamin Libet, H.D. Lewis, K.B. Madsen, Grover Maxwell, Diane McGuinness, Kai Nielsen, Karl H. Pribram, J.W.S. Pringle, Ravi Ravindra, Mary Carmen Rose, Bradley T. Scheer, Roger Sperry, Gunther S. Stent, W.H. Thorpe, J.W.N. Watkins, Roger W. Wescott, and Robert J. White.

Table of Contents

Preface Sir John Eccles
Introduction Sir John Eccles
Part I: Philosophical Contributions to the Mind-Brain Problem
1. Structuralism and Biology
Gunther S. Stent
Commentary
Marius Jeuken
2. Some Thoughts on the Matter of the Mind-Body Problem
Daniel N. Robinson
3. A Basic Difficulty in the Mind-Brain Identity Hypothesis
John W. N. Watkins
4. Unity of Consciousness and Mind-Brain Theories
Grover Maxwell
5. A Critical Appraisal of Mind-Brain Theories
Sir John Eccles
Commentary
Hardin B. Jones
6. The Mind-Brain Issue as a Scientific Problem
Karl H. Pribram
7. Persons in Recent Thought
H.D. Lewis
Commentary
Mary Carman Rose
Part II: Cerebral Correlates of Consciousness
8. The Human Brain and the Human Person
Sir John Eccles
9. The Science of Behavior and the Internal Universe
William Horsley Gantt
10. Adaptability of the Nervous System and its Relation to Chance, Purposiveness, and Causality
Ragnar A. Granit
11. The Brain, Learning and Values
Holger Hyden
Commentary
Robert J. White
12. Cerebral Activity and the Freedom of the Will
Sir John Eccles
13. Subjective and Neuronal Time Factors in Conscious Sensory Experience, Studied in Man, and Their Implications for the Mind-Brain Relationship.
Benjamin Libet
Commentary
K.B. Madsen
14. Experimental Transference of Consciousness: The Human Equivalent
Robert J. White
Part III: The Biology of Consciousness
15. Evolution of Consciousness
Karl H. Pribram
16. The Evolution of Consciousness
Harry J. Jerison
17. The Evolution of Sexual Consciousness: Was Darwin Conscious of His Mother?
Diane McGuinness
18. Human Evolution: His and Hers
Roger W. Wescott
19. The Mechanism of Knowledge: Limits to Prediction
J.W.S. Pringle
Commentary
Brian D. Josephson
20. Culture: The Creation of Man and the Creator of Man
Sir John Eccles
Part IV: Meaning of Life and Death in the Context of the Mind-Brain Problem
21. Science and Man’s Need for Meaning
W.H. Thorpe
22. The Scientist at His Last Quarter of an Hour
Duke L.V.P.R. de Broglie
23. Bridging Science and Values: A Unifying View of Mind and Brain
Roger Sperry
24. Individual Existence
Bradley T. Scheer
25. Death and the Meaning of Life
Kai Nielson
26. Death and the Meaning of Life in the Christian Tradition
W. Norris Clarke
27. Death and the Meaning of Life–A Hindu Response
Ravi Ravindra
28. Natural Theological Speculations on Death and the Meaning of Life
Sir John Eccles
Contributors
Sources
Index

SIR JOHN ECCLES, professor emeritus of physiology at the State University of New York at Buffalo, is a leading authority on nerve-impulse transmission. In 1963 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology for his work in this field. His books include among others: TheHuman Psyche, Facing Reality: Philosophical Adventures by a Brain Scientist; The Understanding of the Brain, and The Human Mystery.