Free Will, Consciousness, Identity (Identity)

by dhw, Sunday, September 09, 2012, 14:23 (4218 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: An article on personality change from brain injury, known since Phineas Gage;-http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-you-make-sociopath-through-brain-i...-The brain controls personality, as an originator or a receiver?-That is the great question, and perhaps it's worth a recap on the underlying problem. We know that drugs, diseases, injuries can affect the brain and hence the personality. That is an argument for materialism (= the brain as originator). But when neuroscientists triumphantly pinpoint areas of the brain that light up during particular activities, they don't ask (and would not be able to answer anyway) just what part of the person activates those areas of the brain. If I want to solve a puzzle, and Compartment 555 lights up, what compartment constitutes the "I" that wants to solve the puzzle and makes 555 light up? The case of the patient who was perfectly conscious of himself despite the absence of those areas of the brain connected with self-awareness highlighted the problem. Of course we don't know the answer, but we certainly won't get one just by ignoring the question.


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