''Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century'' is a 2007
psychological
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...
book by
Edward Francis Kelly, Emily Williams Kelly, Adam Crabtree,
Alan Gauld
Alan Gauld (born 1932) is a British parapsychologist, psychologist and spiritualist writer best known for his research on the history of hypnotism and mediumship.
Biography
Gauld was born in Portland, Dorset. In the late 1950s, he attended H ...
, Michael Grosso, and
Bruce Greyson
Charles Bruce Greyson (born October 1946) is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. He is author of '' After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond'' (2021), ...
.
It attempts to bridge contemporary
cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning.
Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...
and mainstream
neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...
with "rogue phenomena", which the authors argue exist in
near-death experience
A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. When positive, such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detac ...
s, psychophysiological influence, automatism, memory, genius, and mystical states.
The authors' approach repudiates the conventional theory of
human consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...
as a material epiphenomenon that can be fully explained in terms of physical brain processes and advances the mind as an entity independent of the brain or body. They advance an alternative "transmission" or "filter" theory of the mind-brain relationship. In doing so they explain how
dualism may be a more fundamental theory that rejects a materialistic perspective of consciousness. Other books which advocate dualism like this book include “The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality” published by
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
and “From the Knowledge Argument to Mental Substance: Resurrecting the Mind” published by
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
and “Exploring Frontiers of the Mind-Brain Relationship” published by
Springer
Springer or springers may refer to:
Publishers
* Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag.
** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...
.
Authors
The authorship of the book is diverse, with representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
[ The book is interdisciplinary in that the authors also come from various fields of psychology, science studies, and psychical research.][ Lead author Edward F. Kelly is Professor of Research in the Division of Perceptual Studies at the ]University of Virginia School of Medicine
The University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA SoM) is the graduate medical school of the University of Virginia. The school's facilities are on the University of Virginia grounds adjacent to Academical Village in Charlottesville, Virginia. ...
.
Contents
The book begins by presenting a brief overview of contemporary neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...
followed by a summary of the approach to scientific psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
proposed by Frederic W. H. Myers
Frederic William Henry Myers (6 February 1843 – 17 January 1901) was a British poet, classicist, philologist, and a founder of the Society for Psychical Research. Myers' work on psychical research and his ideas about a "subliminal self" w ...
. Myers (and William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.
James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...
) posited that a "true science of mind should seriously take into account all kinds of human experiences before prematurely accepting a theory of mind". Kelly argues that modern psychology has continued, contrary to the advise by Myers and James, to ignore phenomena from psychical research
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near- ...
and religious experience simply because they don't fit into the prevalent views of mind.[Alexander Moreira-Almeida]
Book Review: Irreducible Mind
. ''The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
''The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal on psychopathology. It was established in 1874 as the ''Chicago Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease''. "Chicago" was dropped from the title beginning in 1876. Articl ...
'', Volume 196, Number 4, April 2008, pp. 345-346.
The book endorses phenomena related to psychosomatic medicine
Psychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary medical field exploring the relationships among social, psychological, behavioral factors on bodily processes and quality of life in humans and animals.
The academic forebear of the modern field of ...
, placebo effect
A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.
In general ...
s, near-death experience
A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. When positive, such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detac ...
s, mystical experiences
Scholarly approaches to mysticism include typologies of mysticism and the explanation of mystical states. Since the 19th century, mystical experience has evolved as a distinctive concept. It is closely related to "mysticism" but lays sole emphasi ...
, and creative genius, to argue for a "strongly dualistic theory of mind and brain".[Mitchell G. Ash, Horst Gundlach, Thomas Sturm]
Book Review: Irreducible Mind?
''American Journal of Psychology
The ''American Journal of Psychology'' is a journal devoted primarily to experimental psychology. It is the first such journal to be published in the English language (though ''Mind'', founded in 1876, published some experimental psychology earl ...
'', Volume 123, Number 2, Summer 2010, pp. 246-250 ''Irreducible Mind'' depicts the mind as an entity independent of the brain or body, with which it causally interacts and the death of which it survives.[ The book "challenges neuroscientific reductionism"][Paul Marshall]
Book Review: Irreducible Mind
. ''Journal of Consciousness Studies
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to:
*Bullet journal, a method of personal organization
*Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period
*Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
'', Vol. 14, No. 11, 2007, pp. 125-128. as it argues that properties of minds cannot be fully explained by those of brains.[
The book is broken into 9 sections followed by an introductory bibliography on ]psychical research
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near- ...
and 100 pages of references.
*Chapter 1: A View from the Mainstream: Contemporary Cognitive Neuroscience and the Consciousness Debates
*Chapter 2: F. W. H. Myers and the Empirical Study of the Mind-Body Problem
*Chapter 3: Psychophysiological Influence
*Chapter 4: Memory
*Chapter 5: Automatism and Secondary Centers of Consciousness
*Chapter 6: Unusual Experiences Near Death and Related Phenomena
*Chapter 7: Genius
*Chapter 8: Mystical Experience
*Chapter 9: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century
Reception
Andreas Sommer writing in ''Journal of Mind and Behavior
''The Journal of Mind and Behavior'' is a Peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal in psychology published by the University of Maine Department of Psychology on behalf of The Institute of Mind and Behavior.
The journal publishes theoretical a ...
'' after providing a complete review of the book content, praised the work for its thoroughness in addressing its multidisciplinary subject and "a constructively critical and genuinely scientific tone and spirit" maintained by the authors throughout the work. Sommer argued that "the book has the potential to serve as an invaluable guide for psychologists and other scholars who are aware of the increasing crisis and lack of orientation within modern academic psychology."
Critics writing in the ''American Journal of Psychology
The ''American Journal of Psychology'' is a journal devoted primarily to experimental psychology. It is the first such journal to be published in the English language (though ''Mind'', founded in 1876, published some experimental psychology earl ...
'' had a generally negative review of the work. They objected to some inaccuracies and omissions in lead author Edward F. Kelly's representation of history of physicalism
In philosophy, physicalism is the metaphysical thesis that "everything is physical", that there is "nothing over and above" the physical, or that everything supervenes on the physical. Physicalism is a form of ontological monism—a "one substanc ...
. They also objected to what they see as lack of specifications in Kelly's representation of the mind–body problem
The mind–body problem is a philosophical debate concerning the relationship between thought and consciousness in the human mind, and the brain as part of the physical body. The debate goes beyond addressing the mere question of how mind and bo ...
that the book's authors claim to offer a solution to, some ambiguities in their proposed dualist
Dualism most commonly refers to:
* Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another
** ...
"receiver theory" of mind-brain interaction as well as ignoring plausible versions of the type identity theory that they refute in their work. The critics also highlight what they see as the authors' failure to elaborately cite empirical evidences from alleged paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
phenomena to support their theory and instead referring readers for specifics of the evidence to the large bibliography of psychical literature listed in the book's appendix. They also pointed to the controversial nature of the psi phenomena
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near- ...
and discounted the authors' references to them (such as near-death experiences
A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. When positive, such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detac ...
) on the ground that they are anecdotal.
In a reply to the above negative review, lead author, Ed. F. Kelly, wrote that the reviewers "inexcusably bypass all the material" that the authors had cited as empirical evidence against physicalism, such as "problems in conventional trace theories of memory, psychological automatisms and secondary centers of consciousness, experiences occurring under extreme physiological conditions such as general anesthesia and cardiac arrest, genius-level creativity, and mystical and psychedelic experiences", and instead dwelt on "subsidiary matters". He dismissed objections to alleged inadequacies in their representation of the historical background of the debate by saying that "this material was intended only to provide general background for readers who may need it, such as students, and not as an in-depth discussion of the history of psychology or the philosophy of mind." He further said that the critics' "offhand, often sarcastic dismissal cannot nullify thousands of experimental and case studies published in peer-reviewed journals" in psychical research (See a review paper by psychologist Etzel Cardeña
Etzel Cardeña (born 9 November 1957) is the Thorsen Professor of Psychology at Lund University, Sweden where he is Director of the Centre for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology (CERCAP). He has served as President of the Society of ...
titled "The Experimental Evidence for Parapsychological Phenomena: A review” published by the American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
) but also added that "the empirical inadequacies of physicalism are evident whether one takes the evidence from psychical research seriously or not."
The critics, in their rejoinder, found an irony in Kelly's justification for the shortcomings that they perceived in the historical background of the work considering the authors' inclusion of a CD-ROM copy of the ''Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death'' by F.W.H. Myers as a companion to the book as well as having "a long chapter (by Emily Kelly) on the history of psi and related research since the 19th century." They insisted that the authors' overly "broad and oversimplified" description of physicalism made it difficult to understand what specific doctrine is allegedly refuted by their empirical research.
Clinical neurologist Sebastian Dieguez argued that the book is "painstakingly redundant, astoundingly arrogant in its claims and intents". He wrote that the authors of ''Irreducible Mind'' took reports of paranormal phenomena and wild claims at face value, utilized "quantum babble", and formed an ignorant "soul of the gaps" argument.[Dieguez, Sebastian. (2008). ''The Soul of the Gaps''. (Review of Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century by Edward F. Kelly, Emily Williams Kelly, Adam Crabtree, Alan Gauld, Michael Grosso, and Bruce Greyson). '']Skeptic
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...
'' 15: 75-77.
Alexander Moreira-Almeida, reviewing the book in the ''Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
''The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal on psychopathology. It was established in 1874 as the ''Chicago Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease''. "Chicago" was dropped from the title beginning in 1876. Articl ...
'', praised the authors "for their courage and scholarship in dealing with such a controversial topic" and presenting thought-provoking ideas for the mind-body problem while stating that a wider transcultural scope and views by experts in philosophy of science would have been also useful.[
Paul Marshal, writing in '']Journal of Consciousness Studies
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to:
*Bullet journal, a method of personal organization
*Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period
*Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
'', described the book a monumental work with far-reaching revolutionary ambitions, "a heavyweight intellectual contribution that will be indispensable to those interested in late 19th-century reactions to scientific naturalism, to investigators of anomalous experiences, and to students of consciousness studies on the lookout for stimulating data and ideas."
See also
*''The Conscious Mind
''The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory'' was published in 1996, and is the first book written by David Chalmers, an Australian philosopher specialising in philosophy of mind. Though the book has been greatly influential, Chalmers ...
''
*''Extra-Sensory Perception
Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universit ...
''
*'' Parapsychology: Frontier Science of the Mind''
*''Varieties of Anomalous Experience
''Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence'' is a book edited by Etzel Cardeña, Steven Jay Lynn and Stanley Krippner and published by the American Psychological Association. The first edition was published in 2000 and ...
''
References
External links
The Division of Perceptual Studies
at the University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
School of Medicine.
{{Parapsychology
2007 non-fiction books
Books about the paranormal
Neuroscience books
Parapsychology
Philosophy of mind literature
Dualism (philosophy of mind)
Theory of mind