Neuroscience and the Soul:

The Dualism of John Carew Eccles

Comments

Neuroscience and philosophy
Peter Clarke

3/4/2012 5:34:52 PM

 I find it disturbing that Allan Hobson, an outstanding neuroscientist, should ridiculize so cheaply the ideas of Eccles only a few years after his death, and pontificate with such dogmatism on the problems of body-soul dualism, when he himself makes sufficient elementary errors to raise doubts about his philosophical competence. To cite just one of these, Hobson attributes to Descartes the philosophical position of parallelism. This was of course never Descartes' position, but was argued by Leibnitz. Like Hobson, I disagree with Eccles' dualism, and have published refereed papers opposing it. But, unlike Hobson, I recognize that alternatives to dualism also have their problems, and consider that Eccles' dualism required a more serious treatment than the one provided. Peter Clarke, Lausanne.

There are another kinds of dualities:
socratus

11/20/2011 12:00:55 PM

There are another kinds of dualities: Matter and field, matter and energy / force. Body and mind / consciousness . These physical dualities ( in my opinion) on the quantum level (!) are equal to the metaphysical duality: body and soul. Solving, for example, physical duality of matter and energy / force ( on the quantum level ) we solve the metaphysical duality of body and soul.

P.S. Solving the physical duality of matter and energy / force, body and mind / consciousness we need to take into account a) the wave–particle duality and b) the dualistic work of brain, which can produce a logical - conscious thought and also an illogical - unconscious thought. ===. Best wishes. socratus

We are surrounded by the duality.
Socratus

11/14/2011 9:51:26 PM

 We are surrounded by the duality. 1. A central concept of Quantum Theory is wave–particle duality. 2. The Universe as whole is Two - Measured World: one Reference Frame is the Matter World and another Reference Frame is the Vacuum World. It is possible to say that we are surrounded by Double Universe. 3. Our brain works on dualistic basis: usually as a logical consciousness and rarely as an unconsciousness. It means the interaction between billions and billions neurons can be in two states: a) In the state of consciousness ( C) b)or in the state of unconsciousness ( U). The question is: How can the information ( or quantum of information ) transfer ( or be transferred) from the state C to the state U and vice versa ? Isn’t this question similar to the puzzle of quantum tunneling ? =. Conclusion: The elementary particles, the Universe, the brain – all they have dualistic basis. And until now the dualistic phenomena has no solution. ===. P.S. "... indeed an understanding of psi phenomena and of consciousness must provide the basis of an improved understanding of quantum mechanics." / Evan Walker / # ‘ The old philosophical question: Does only the brain create Consciousness ? Some scientists are not sure .’ / Book ‘The Holographic Universe.’ by Michael Talbot. / # Daniel Shechtman who won the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry for quasi crystals, having spent much of his career being vilified and exiled as a crank “I was thrown out of my research group. They said I brought shame on them with what I was saying.” =======. Best wishes. Israel Sadovnik Socratus =====================.

Dualism
K Lee

10/6/2010 9:47:58 PM

 If there is no soul, could Allan explain scientifically the phenomenon of Past Life Memories from young kids that could be verified? Thanks

Neuroscience and the Soul
Jay Jacobus

7/21/2010 9:27:51 AM

 Some times science is descriptive and other times science is explanatory. Vision is part of the mind not the brain. To understand vision one must explain the mind. To say that the brain creates the mind is probably a valid explanation, but how does this occur?

More than Dualism
MOSTAFA.S.

12/1/2007 10:03:38 AM

Integrationist view is more acceptable, but I see that it is incomplete. It does not answer a simple question about what powers a man in different conditions: when awake, when asleep, and when in coma or under anasthesia? The master power is not the same in the three conditions.

Nor does it answer another complimentary question: During dreaming, is a man conscious? So we can say during a normal lifetime a man has three powers in addition to physical powers: (1) Life, like that of a plant, occurring alone in coma (2) Spirit = psych that like that in animals, (3)  Soul.

So a human system is matter converted to living matter converted to spirit containing living matter converted to humanized living matter by the soul. This last component is responsible for conciousness, speech, and others. One proof comes from artificial heart transplant operations--the patient changes completely, they look as if they are without souls. So niether neurobiology nor dualism nor others will explain why we alone have mind.

One-sided view
Roger K

10/15/2007 11:17:12 AM

 The comment in the article that there is no evidence whatsoever for the dualistic view is one-sided. Swedenborg did get controllable useful psychic info unobtainable through normal sources at least once, Gothenburg 1759. Kant did extensive research and established the story as fact. Read Irreducible Mind for an contemporary overview of how empirical evidence for the mind sometimes extends outside the brain.