Whatever explanation of the functional relation between brain and mind a person may accept, he need not constantly be on his guard lest he be inconsistent. We speak of the rising and setting sun without meaning that the earth is the center of the universe and that the sun moves around it. So we may also continue to speak quite generally of the material world as influencing our mind, and of the mind as bringing about changes in the material world.
Our view of the relation between body and mind leads to the further conclusion that, as our body may be distinguished from its parts without having existence separate from its parts, so our mind may be distinguished from the several states of consciousness without having existence separate from them. Mind is the concept of the totality of mental functions. As self-preservation is the chief end of all bodily function, so self-preservation is the chief end of mental life.
QUESTIONS
40. Do the facts of comparative anatomy and of localized function agree with the view that the brain is the mind’s tool?
41. Is mind subject to the law of the conservation of energy?
42. Is mind a demon interfering with the laws of nature?
43. What is the cause of the illusion that nervous processes bring forth mental states, or that mental states bring forth nervous processes?
44. Why is it correct to regard certain events going on outside of the organism—and even in the organism, but outside of the nervous system—as effects or as causes of certain mental states?
45. Is there any objection to distinguishing our mind from the several mental states?