The Self and Its Brain
The problem of the relation between our bodies and our minds, and espe cially of the link between brain structures and processes on the one hand and mental dispositions and events on the other is an exceedingly difficult one. Without pretending to be abl
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The Self and Its Brain by Karl R. Popper and John C. Eccles With 66 Figures
ISl
Springer International
Sir Karl Popper Fallowfield, Manor Close, Manor Road, Penn, Buckinghamshire, England
Sir John Eccles Contra (Locarno) CH-6611 Switzerland
Corrected 2nd Printing 1985 Corrected Printing 1981 ISBN-13:978-3-642-61893-2 DOI:I0.I007/978-3-642-61891-8
e-ISBN-13:978-3-642-61891-8
Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberger Platz 3, 0-1000 Berlin 33 Springer-Verlag New York Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA Springer-Verlag London, 37 A, Church Road, Wimbledon, London S. W. 19-500
UbrlIJy of Congress Cataloging In Publication Data Popper, Karl RaImund, SIr,1902- The self and Its bram.Blbhography. p. Includes index. 1 Mind and body. 2. Self. 3. Brain. I Eccles, John, SIr, Jomt author II. Title BF161.P585 128'2 77-12397 This work is subject to copyright. All nghts are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically those of transiabOn, reprinting, re-use of dlustrations, broadcasting, reproduction by photocopymg machine or sunilar means, and storage in data banks. Under § 54 of the German Copynght Law where copies are made for other than private use, a fee IS payable to the publisher, the amount of the fee to be determined by agreement with the pubbsher. © by Sir Karl Popper and Sir John Eccles, 1977
Softcover reprint of the hardcover lst edition 1977 Typesettmg and bookbinding: AppI, Wemdlng. Pnntmg: apnnta, Wemding 2125/3130 - 543210
To our wives
Each waking day is a stage dominated for good or ill, in comedy, farce or tragedy by a dramatis persona, the 'self', and so it will be until the curtain drops. c. S. Sherrington, 1947. Only human beings guide their behaviour by a knowledge of what happened before they were born and a preconception of what may happen after they are dead: thus only human beings find their way by a light that illumines more than the patch of ground they stand on. Peter B. Medawar and Jean S. Medawar, 1977.
Preface
The problem of the relation between our bodies and our minds, and especially of the link between brain structures and processes on the one hand and mental dispositions and events on the other is an exceedingly difficult one. Without pretending to be able to foresee future developments, both authors of this book think it improbable that the problem will ever be solved, in the sense that we shall really understand this relation. We think that no more can be expected than to make a little progress here or there. We have written this book in the hope that we have been able to do so. We are conscious of the fact that what we have done is very conjectural and very modest. We are aware of our fallibility; yet we believe in the intrinsic value of every human effort to deepen our understanding of ourselves and of the world we live in. We believe in humanism: in human rationality, in human science, and in other human achievements, however fallible they are. We are unimpressed by the recurrent intellectual fashions that belittle science and the ot
