MYSTERIES OF LIFE AND EXISTENCE — SNODGRASS 531 



CONSCIOUSNESS 



The spoken pronoun "I" usually does not refer to the physical 

 body of the speaker, but to an abstract feeling of conscious individu- 

 ality that is he himself. Yet no amount of introspection will reveal 

 to us what our consciousness is. Small wonder then that the concept 

 of human duality has long prevailed, that a nonmaterial spirit, soul, 

 or fsycliG resides within our physical bodies, which receives sensations 

 from the outer world, is master of the body, thinks, and gives orders 

 to our muscles. All this, however, from a strictly scientific viewpoint 

 is a creation of the imagination ; "spirit" and "soul" are mere words 

 without intelligible definitions. Biologically, we might ask how 

 could an immaterial nothing be duplicated from generation to genera- 

 tion? If the mind is not a function of something material, there is 

 no known mechanism of psychic inheritance, or of mental evolution 

 from ape to man. 



Since even the strongest advocates of duality of mind and body 

 cannot explain what they mean by consciousness, some psychologists, 

 as Watson (1930), practically deny the existence of consciousness, 

 and hence that it can dictate our actions. The creed of the behavior- 

 ists is "Every human action is a mechanical reflex response to a stimu- 

 lus." Physiology, according to Mitchell (1923), has for its final goal 

 "nothing less than a complete interpretation of life phenomena in 

 terms applicable to nonliving mechanisms — in short, a physico-chemi- 

 cal explanation of life." He admits, however, the goal is yet far 

 away and dim. Lashley (1923) points out that the mechanistic view 

 of human behavior conforms wnth the general principles of physical 

 mechanics, and makes the animal no exception. The human body, it 

 is argued, is a physical mechanism and must be subject to the laws 

 of mechanics. Therefore, according to this view an immaterial 

 "mind" or "consciousness" cannot modify or guide the actions of the 

 body. 



This argument does not seem to negate the existence of conscious- 

 ness ; it simply denies that consciousness has any activating function, 

 and reduces it to brain action accompanying physical activities. Ac- 

 cording to Herrick (1924) disembodied functions are not recognized 

 in biology as causes of anything. "It is the functioning organ which 

 is the cause, and it seems to be at least a plausible inference that the 

 observed effects of mind on body are in reality effects of one function- 

 ing organ (the brain thinking) on other parts of the body." "Con- 

 sciousness, then, is a factor in behavior, a real cause of human conduct, 

 and probably to some extent in that of other animals." 



There can be no doubt that the seat of consciousness is the brain. 

 Consciousness is totally abolished by serious injury to the brain, or 

 by shutting off the blood supply to it. Consciousness is aroused, 



