The physical foundations of biology and the problems of psychophysics
- Full applicability of physics to human biology does not necessarily imply that one can uncover a comprehensive, algorithmic correlation between physical brain states and corresponding mental states. The argument takes into account that information processing is finite in principle in a finite world. Presumbly the brain-mind-relation cannot be resolved in all essential aspects, particularly when high degrees of abstraction or self-analytical processes are involved. Our conjecture plausibly unifies the universal validity of physics and a logical limitation of human thought, and it does not regard consciousness -the most basic human experience - as a marginal phenomenon. ++++ RATIO appeared up to 1987 in both a German and an English version. The German title of this article: Alfred Gierer, Der physikalische Grundlegungsversuch in der Biologie und das psychophysische Problem. RATIO XII, Heft 1, 1970, S. 40-54.
Author: | Alfred Gierer |
---|---|
URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:b4360-1007511 |
URL: | http://edoc.bbaw.de/oa/articles/reWz6M147oWSU/PDF/28LwqY36Qbdqw.pdf |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2008/07/08 |
Publishing Institution: | Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften |
Release Date: | 2008/07/08 |
Tag: | Feigl; brain; cognition; consciousness; decodability; finitistic; mind; undecidability |
Source: | Ratio : an international journal of analytic philosophy ; 1 (12), 47-64 |
Institutes: | BBAW / Veröffentlichungen von Akademiemitgliedern |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie |