Status of the Mind Problem (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Status of the Mind Problem

In predicating the dependence of mind and body, one of the first pre cautions to be taken is that against predicating their identity. That every mental fact corresponds to a physiological fact as its antecedent, or at least its necessary concomitant, is now a generally accepted truth. There is not a psychologist nor a physiologist who holds that the men tal fact and the physiological fact are one and the same thing. The question as to the exact nature of the connection between these two facts may be regarded as the leading problem of psychology to-day. It is therefore fitting that I should offer a few thoughts on this problem.

We are constantly hearing about the mystery of mind, and when we inquire closely what this means we usually find that it is just this question of the real relation of mind to body. All admit that there is no resemblance between mind and body, and it is the over whelming consensus of opinion that the connection between them is utterly inexplicable. I shall not refer to those authors who look upon the body as something essentially base, and despise matter. I shall confine myself to an exposition of the views of men who have devoted their lives to the study of matter, either in the inorganic world or as organized in the bodies of living organisms, and who have taught us the dignity and purity, I had almost said, the divinity, of the material world. Said Prof. Tyndall.

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