How the Self Controls Its Brainby Sir John C. Eccles Book review by Joseph Uphoff
While rejecting Descartes' mind/body dualism, Eccles proposes one of his own, based on the physical and objective aspects of the brain. In attempting to prove his argument, Eccles provides a literature review followed by a discussion of the neurological functions of the brain. In the review, we are met with several proponents and opponents of dualism, along with comments regarding the validity of their points. Throughout the review, and remainder of the book, the materialistic monists receive the strongest criticism. They are people who reject not only all dualism, but give lip service at best to the mental aspects of brain function. While favorably discussing Hodgson, Eccles comments: I will not discuss the next section on God, because it is not relevant to the theme of this book, but I approve in general. Upon reading this I became troubled that Eccles was a theist and probably a Christian. His belief in a creator was confirmed on p. 180. This leads to the question: is his belief interfering with interpreting the evidence he sees? As for the evidence itself, it bogs down in neurological terminology, and thus becomes tedious reading. Out of this, however, some concepts emerge. Perhaps the most significant is his introduction of psychons. A psychon is the elemental unit for a given mental event, which Eccles defines as intention to act. He also equates the mind with mental functions. He hypothesizes that for each psychon there usually is a corresponding dendron, dendrons being collections of dendrites in the cerebral cortex. However, he further theorizes that some psychons can be associated with other psychons. The mechanics of this relationship is never spelled out. The psychon/dendron relationship leads to consciousness and the psychon/psychon relationship is responsible for self- consciousness. And yet, in spite of the science he uses to prove his contentions, metaphysics enters the picture. The best example of the above is his concept of self. This he believes to be the sum of a person's experiences. However, it is also non-material and spiritual in nature. As it is "non- material," an origin must be found. This Eccles believes to be supernatural and leads to God. Among his reasons for so stating is that each self is unique and that such uniqueness cannot be accounted for via biology or other natural means. Structurally, I discovered one typo (p.179) and one font shift (p.29-30). While these do not detract from the book, Eccles' constant reference to other chapters in this work does. He uses charts and graphs to illustrate his points, which can be avoided if the reader does not want to be weighed down with the technical aspects of the theory. This may occur anyway as the author often engages in technical jargon. Eccles purports to write a scientific work demonstrating how intention and action interrelate. In my opinion, however, this is yet another philosophical book dealing with dualism. While Eccles may say that Descartes is invalid, is his approval any more valid due to its alleged neurological underpinnings? He continues to believe in the mind, albeit in a different form. And he believes in a non-corporeal self, which has replaced the traditional concept of mind. Talk of psychons belongs in the realm of pseudoscience, not that of neurology. In sum, a not convincing work. How the Self Controls its Brain by Sir John C. Eccles. ©1994 Springer-Verlag, New York - Berlin - Heidelberg, Germany. 197 pp, hard cover, ISBN: 0-387-56290-7. Our copy was obtained from CALTECH Books at $40.55.
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