312 Self and the Phenomenon of Life
b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity “9x6”
independent existence that controversy arises. It is therefore important not
to confuse the two issues — the “presence of mind” and the “immortality
of mind.”
- Sherrington C. (1940) Man on His Nature. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cam-
bridge, UK; revised 1951, Mentor Books, New York, Chap. 11. - Kety SS. (1960) A biologist examines the mind and behavior. Science 132:
1861–1870. - Churchland PS. (1986) Neurophilosophy. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA,
page ix; Churchland PM. (2007) Neurophilosophy At Work. Cambridge
Univ. Press, New York. - Dennett D. (1991) Consciousness Explained. Little, Brown & Co., Boston,
pp. 454–455. - Kuhlmann M. (2010) The Ultimate Constituents of the Material World:
In Search of an Ontology for Fundamental Physics. Ontos Verlag, Frank-
furt; Kuhlmann M. (August 2013) What is real? Scientific Am 309: 40–47. - In more recent writings, Patricia Churchland seems to be backing down
from the position of rejecting mind as reality. Nevertheless, she still
insists that the philosophy of mind should be replaced by the science
of the brain. See: Churchland PS. (2002) Brain-wise: Studies in Neu-
rophilosophy. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 2 & 401.While I agree on
the promise of brain science, I do not believe that it can totally wipe out
the philosophy of mind. - Nagel T. (1974) What is it like to be a bat? The Philosophical Rev 83:
435–450. - Searle JR. (1992) The Rediscovery of the Mind. MIT Press, Cambridge,
MA; Searle JR. (1997) The Mystery of Consciousness. New York Rev. of
Books, New York. - Pain is defined as an intensely disagreeable sensation.
- The manifestations of consciousness are so obvious and prevalent in higher
animals that it would be almost impossible to imagine what a “mindless”
person would be like. The romantics may picture a “zombie,” but nobody
knows what a zombie really is, since it is a non-existent creature. The med-
ically minded can compare it to a person suffering from sleepwalking, but
no one can engage in sleepwalking for more than a few minutes; and I do
not believe how such a person could spend a lifetime undertaking such