497 - Our Fragile Brains: A Christian Perspective on Brain Research & Brains, Machines, and Persons

Our Fragile Brains:
A Christian Perspective on Brain Research
By D. Gareth Jones
Downers'Grove, InterVarsity, 1981. 282 pp. $8.95.

Brains, Machines, and Persons
By Donald M. MacKay
Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1980. 114 pp. $4.95.

These two books share a common interest in the impact that modern brain research is having on the Christian's understanding of human

498 - Our Fragile Brains: A Christian Perspective on Brain Research & Brains, Machines, and Persons

nature, freedom, and responsibility. Both authors are respected scientists (MacKay is research professor of communication and neuroscience at the University of Keele, Staffordshire, England, while Jones is associate professor of anatomy and human biology at the University of Western Australia). But even though both books are written for non-professionals, they differ considerably in style, scope, and length.

MacKay weaves a tight argument introducing only enough illustrative material to support his view that the biblical understanding of human nature enhances rather than conflicts with the findings of brain research. His examples are always relevant; some of the best were selected from his previous books (The Clockwork Image, 1974; Science, Chance and Providence, 1978; and Human Science and Human Dignity, 1979). Jones adopts a broader and less focused goal-to first present a comprehensive summary of current knowledge about the brain and then to draw from it implications for Christian doctrine. Thus, the major portion of each chapter is a straightforward description of research findings.

The first book opens with an excellent, brief history of ideas about brain function followed by a simplified presentation of current knowledge of brain anatomy and physiology. Next, it tackles the thorny issue of language and its relationship to conscious awareness. He deals briefly with the question of whether chimpanzees can use human language, then devotes more space to research on split-brain patients (persons who have had the connections between the two cerebral hemispheres severed for medical reasons). Research on these individuals suggests that the two halves of the brain have independent functions. In most right handers, the left hemisphere seems to be specialized for language and sequential, analytical thought, while the right seems better at spatial tasks and holistic, synthetic thought. The existence of two "brains" within the human skull obviously has profound implications for education and philosophy.

Further evidence that certain abilities are controlled by specific regions within the brain comes from the chapter on case-study descriptions of brain-damaged individuals. The difficult question here is to what extent the individual's personality, humanity, and relationship to God is affected by the physical damage to brain tissue. Additional ethical issues are raised in the chapter on brain control, in which he describes the rationale and consequences of psychosurgery for the removal of specific deviant behaviors such as uncontrollable violence and sexual aggression, or electrical stimulation of the brain to deliver pleasure or punishment as a means of modifying a person's behavior.

Should Christians support such techniques for the good of the individual or the good of society, or reject them as interfering with human freedom and dignity? Similar considerations are raised by his discussion of mood-altering drugs such as tranquilizers and hallucinogens, as well as behavior-modification conditioning techniques developed by psychologists. Although the wide-spread use of such behavior

500 - Our Fragile Brains: A Christian Perspective on Brain Research & Brains, Machines, and Persons

control technologies by governments may seem far-fetched at present, he discusses a more immediate ethical concern-the alarming effects of malnutrition on the brain development of children in Third World countries.

Jones attempts to draw out the implications from this information in a final chapter by arguing that neither strict "monism" (explaining actions and beliefs entirely in terms of events within brain cells) nor "dualism" (holding that personality and conscious awareness are distinct from brain events) is a satisfactory position. After examining several attempts to reconcile brain science and Christian faith, he settles on MacKay's argument as one of the most promising.

The second volume's position, as outlined in five brief chapters based on a lecture series he delivered in 1975, is that Christians have nothing to fear when and if brain scientists can explain all mental functioning in purely mechanical terms. He begins with a look at the physical structure and functioning of the brain, drawing a distinction between the "I-story" (our personal experiences, known only to us) and the "O-story" (the events in the environment and brain which could, in principle, be observed by others). Next be examines whether the recent advances in computers and artificial intelligence have lessened the significance of human beings (his answer is "no"). The concluding chapter presents his theory of "comprehensive realism" as a way of relating conscious experience to brain processes without reducing the "I-story" to the "O-story." This theory allows him to maintain that human freedom and responsibility would exist even if brain events are completely ruled by physical determinism.

Both of these books make valuable contributions. The casual reader who wants a well-organized overview of current brain science should choose Jones, while the careful reader willing to follow a complex philosophical argument will surely be rewarded by two hours with MacKay. Theologians will simply not be able to avoid dealing with the issues both books raise.

Thomas E. Ludwig
Hope College
Holland, Michigan