Great things about human brain

In this chapter, I describe evidence for the view that the human mind is a physical entity, in much the same way in which the human digestive system or the human immune system are physical entities. The first section characterizes this view more fully. The second section explains the evidential relevance of physicalism about the mind to theism. The third section sketches two kinds of evidence that support physicalism about the human mind, while the final section considers an antiphysicalist response to the reasoning of the previous section.

1. What Is Physicalism about the Human Mind?

Humans have minds, exemplify mental properties, and undergo mental processes. Some examples of mental properties are thinking that one's keys are in the ignition, hoping that the gas gauge is broken, wishing that the weather will be fine tomorrow, fearing that the repair will be costly, and doubting that all politicians are crooks; other examples of mental properties are smelling the distinctive smell of gasoline (in the absence of actual gasoline), seeing the distinctive blueness of a cloudless sky (in the absence of any blue sky), having an ache in the shoulder, and feeling stressed. Examples of mental processes are figuring out what is causing one's child's fever, planning a trip to Colorado, and deciding to have no dessert.

There's a narrow sense of the word "physical" in which minds, mental properties, and mental processes are clearly not physical phenomena: terms like "mind, " "thinking, " and "feeling" don't appear in the theories of fundamental physics. In this same narrow sense of "physical, " however, a kidney isn't a physical object, respiring isn't a physical property, and digestion isn't a physical process; for the terms "kidney, " "is respiring, " and "digestion" also don't appear in the theories of fundamental physics. So to concede that mental phenomena aren't physical in this narrow sense isn't to concede very much. Yet surely there's a broad sense of the word "physical" in which kidneys, respiring, and digestion are indeed physical phenomena. What physicalism about the human mind claims is that human minds, mental properties, and mental processes are physical in this broad sense of "physical."