THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF MIND

GEORGE HENRY LEWES

THE title indicates that this volume is restricted to the group of material conditions which constitute the organism in relation to the physical world—a group which furnishes the data for one half of the psychologist's quest; the other half being furnished by historical and social conditions. The Human Mind, so far as it is accessible to scientific inquiry, has a twofold root, man being not only an animal organism but an unit in the social organism; and hence the complete theory of its functions and faculties must be sought in this twofold direction. This conception (which has been declared "to amount to a revolution in Psychology"), although slowly prepared by the growing conviction that Man could not be isolated from Humanity, was first expounded in the opening volume of these Problems of Life and Mind; at least, I am not aware that any predecessor had seen how the specially human faculties of Intellect and Conscience were products of social factors co-operating with the animal factors.

Table of contents

• PREFACE.
• PROBLEM I. THE NATURE OF LIFE.
• THE NATURE OF LIFE.
• CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM STATED.
• CHAPTER II. DEFINITIONS OF LIFE.
• CHAPTER III. ORGANISM, ORGANIZATION, AND ORGANIC SUBSTANCE.
• CHAPTER IV. THE PROPERTIES AND FUNCTIONS.
• CHAPTER V. EVOLUTION.
• PROBLEM II. THE NERVOUS MECHANISM
• THE NERVOUS MECHANISM.
• CHAPTER I. SURVEY OF THE SYSTEM
• CHAPTER II. THE FUNCTIONAL RELATIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
• CHAPTER III. NEURILITY.
• CHAPTER IV. SENSIBILITY.
• CHAPTER V. ACTION WITHOUT NERVE-CENTRES.
• CHAPTER VI. WHAT IS TAUGHT BY EMBRYOLOGY?
• CHAPTER VII. THE ELEMENTARY STRUCTURE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
• CHAPTER VIII. THE LAWS OF NERVOUS ACTIVITY.
• PROBLEM III. ANIMAL AUTOMATISM.
• ANIMAL AUTOMATISM.
• CHAPTER I. THE COURSE OF MODERN THOUGHT.
• CHAPTER II. THE VITAL MECHANISM.
• CHAPTER III. THE RELATION OF BODY AND MIND.
• CHAPTER IV. CONSCIOUSNESS AND UNCONSCIOUSNESS.211
• CHAPTER V. VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY ACTIONS.
• CHAPTER VI. THE PROBLEM STATED.
• CHAPTER VII. IS FEELING AN AGENT?
• PROBLEM IV. THE REFLEX THEORY.
• THE REFLEX THEORY.
• CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM STATED.
• CHAPTER II. DEDUCTIONS FROM GENERAL LAWS.
• CHAPTER III. INDUCTIONS FROM PARTICULAR OBSERVATIONS.
• CHAPTER IV. NEGATIVE INDUCTIONS.