Self from Within: The Introspective Self 303“9x6” b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanityhypothetical “strings” and “loops.” (But wait, the reduction does not end
here, for new theories are popping up to replace the matter/energy con-
cept with even more fundamental “non-material relations.”)^9 Thus, what
the chain reaction of “explaining away” leads to is a vanishing point of
unknown nature. In short, we either have to accept the phenomenon of
emergence or to deny everything save a few abstract, nebulous hypoth-
eses at the very bottom of the material world. But to accept the mind as
an emergent is to recognize its reality. The problem with the eliminative
materialists, therefore, lies not in the fact that the mind can be explained
in physical terms, but in their assertion that after such explanation the
introspective aspect of mind evaporates without a trace.^10
It is true that scientific study of the brain will continue to progress,
giving us insights into how the nervous system works and even a glimpse
into how consciousness (as an observed phenomenon) can arise, not to
mention the utility of such knowledge for the betterment of mankind in
the control of neurologic and mental illnesses. It is also true that intro-
spective examination of self does not reap such practical benefits, nor
generate copious observational data to fill the books. Nonetheless, it is
indisputable that the inner aspect of mind is there and will continue to be
there, and for this reason alone, it deserves to be a part of philosophical
discourse (if philosophy is taken to cover the entirety of human knowl-
edge), though not necessarily a part of science. As Thomas Nagel once
argued in his famous 1974 essay What is it like to be a bat?, the subjective
self is at the core of our being, however “unscientific” it might be.^11
Perhaps the best refutation for the “absence of mind” concept is
not an argument, but a practical test — the “pinch test” as suggested by
John Searle.^12 Go to those people who deny the presence of mind and
pinch them hard in their arms unprovoked and without warning. If they
get mad and chase you down the stairs, there is no doubt that they have
an inner experience of pain (the mind) that can affect matter (the body)
and set it into action.^13
For those who still insist that our inner experience is illusory, let
me make one more point. For an agent to have an illusion, there has to