Facing Reality Philosophical Adventures by a Brain Scientist
The titling of this book - "Facing Reality" - came to me unbidden, presumably from my subconscious! But, when it came, it seemed to be right, because that essentially is what I am trying to do in this book. " Facing" is to be understood in the sense of "l
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Yolume 13
John C. Eccles
Facing Reality Philosophical Adventures by a Brain Scientist
With 36 Figures
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH 1975
Professor Sir lohn C. EccJes,
Department of Physiology, State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Dentistry, Buffalo, NY 14214/USA
This is a reprint of the first edition published 1970.
ihis work is subjecl 10 copyright. All rlghls are reserved, whelher Ihe whole or pari of Ihe malerlai Is concerned, specifically Ihose of IranslatIon, reprlnling, re-use of illuslrallons, broad-casting, reproduction by pholocopylng machine or similar means, and slorage In dala banks. Under § 54 of Ihe German Copyrlghl Law where coples are made for olher Ihan prlvale use, a fee Is payable 10 Ihe pUblisher, Ihe amounl of Ihe fee 10 be delermined by agreemenl wllh Ihe publisher. © by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heldelberg 1970. Library of Congress Calalog Card Number 76-121064.
Originally published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York in 1970. ihe use of general descriptlve names, Irade names, Irade marks, elc. In Ihis publicalion, even If Ihe former are not especially identifled, Is not 10 be laken as a sign Ihal such names, as underslood by Ihe irade Marks and Merchandise Marks Acl, may accordlngly be used freely by anyone.
ISBN 978-0-387-90014-8 ISBN 978-1-4757-3997-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4757-3997-8
For Helena
Preface The titling of this book - "Facing Reality" - came to me unbidden, presumably from my subconscious! But, when it came, it seemed to be right, because that essentially is what I am trying to do in this book. " Facing" is to be understood in the sense of "looking at in a steadfast and unflinching manner". It thus contrasts with "Confronting" which has the sense of "looking at with hostility and defiance". As I face life with its joys and its sorrows, its successes and its failures, its peace and its turmoil, my attitude is one of serene acceptance and gratitude and not one of angry and arrogant confrontation and rejection. The other component of the title - "Reality" - is the ultimate reality for each of us as conscious beings - our birth - our self-hood in its long stream of becoming throughout our life - our death and apparent annihilation. This is the Reality that we each of us must face if we are to live and adventure as free and responsible beings and not as mere playthings of chance and circumstance, going through a meaningless farce from birth to death with the search ever for distraction and self-forgetfulness. As a brain scientist I have specialist knowledge of that wonderful part of the body that is alone concerned in the whole Iife-Iong interplay between the conscious self and the extern al world, including other selves. There will be a critical account of the way the brain receives from the world and the way it acts on it, and also of the possible synaptic mechanisms of memory - both storage and retrieval. But more importantly there will be a philosophical treatment of the age-old problems of the liaison between the
