Introduction

As human beings who are we? What are we? Are we merely defined by our material stuff? Or is there something more to us, such as soul and spirit? Does being a good scientist mean casting aside such beliefs as the existence of God and an after life as though such questions are meaningless? Can we integrate science and the questions of meaning that have defined human existence as long as we have known it? Or are such questions meaningless nonsense?

Neuroscience comes to us as a field emblazoned in a conflict. Many neuroscientists operate from an epistemological premise of reductionism and empiricism, which holds that all we can know is the material universe, including the matter that makes up human beings. For this reason, they are also called materialists. Others within the field of neuroscience hold to an interactionism of mind and brain. In other words, as complex and majestic as it is, there is more to the human being than the material brain. These diametrically opposed epistemologies influence how we view what makes us human and the methods we use to explore that question. These different viewpoints lead to the question that has shaped much of neuroscience and brain studies: the mind/brain question.

Mark Cosgrove in The Brain, the Mind, and the Person Within: The Enduring Mystery of the Soul, writes from a position that the title of the book readily reflects. He states his beliefs clearly in the preface of the book. We are being, spirit, and matter fused together . . . we await the resurrection of our bodies and brains (p. 8). Throughout his work, Cosgrove addresses why the materialistic premises behind much of science fail to give us an adequate understanding of what it is to be human. This book seeks to reclaim a sense of the sacred and the personal when examining the human brain. [There is] an inseparable relationship between our personhood and the neural activities and organization of the brain (p. 20).

Perspectives: The Hard Question

As stated, Cosgrove holds to a Christian perspective that he says should not be set aside as we engage science and the study of neuroscience. The three-pound phenomena in our skull that we call the brain is a mystery. The primary mystery surrounding the brain is self-consciousness. We are aware of who we are, what we feel, what we believe, how we interact with others, and that life appears to hold meaning for us.

Many neuroscientists begin with the presupposition that there is no self or mind. Human beings exists as nothing else but matter. This is a radically empirical and materialistic presupposition. Cosgrove calls for a different perspective that he labels the personal. Although he doesn’t discount the importance of empirical studies, he sees such a perspective as a bottom-up approach. The details are important, but so is the big picture which he calls a top-down approach. The top-down approach while not negating empirical findings, maintains the view of personhood. We are the ones studying the brain. Human beings produce their findings while studying what neuroscientists state is the most complex structure in the universe, that three-pound mass in our skulls that allows us to interact with others, find meaning in our work, create art, and understand acts of heroism, faithfulness, and love.

The personal approach to neuroscience permits researchers to explore what has been called the hard problem in the study of the brain. The hard problem refers to explaining the phenomenon of our conscious experience and why and how the objective physical activities of the brain’s neural machinery should give rise to my subjective feelings (p. 61). Either our subjective experiences and feelings are meaningful in many ways, or they are simply epiphenomena of material neuronal connective pathways in the brain. Although correlation studies can depict what parts of the brain are activated when we experience certain emotions, these correlations should not be confused with cause-effect. Cosgrove throws down the gauntlet, never has a time needed such a personal viewpoint more when so much depends on thinking clearly about science and the nature of human persons (p. 16). Cosgrove’s distinction between materialism and a personhood approach to neuroscience in a threadlike manner weaves throughout his book. For those of us who are Christian, this is a specifically important work.

Six TakeAways

There is so much more to Cosgrove’s book than the six takeaways I delineate here. I draw upon his final chapter where he summarizes the important features of his work.

Assumptions Are Important

The presuppositions through which we approach any work, whether it is art, business, science, or any other endeavor, have consequences. Assumptions in any research area influence what we are looking for, how we design our methodologies, and what we consider important findings. Although there are important ways to check our biases and presuppositions, there is no such thing as a purely objective approach to science or anything else. People come to the table with beliefs, premises, and presuppositions, whether or not they want to admit them. In neuroscience it is important to consider the premises on which research is built. Is one’s methodology radically empirical and materialistic, or does it allow one to explore what may transcend materialistic existence? Can we truly have a science of the human person if we rule out by presupposition religious and spiritual explanations? Do our research methodologies allow us to explore the hard problem?

Subjective Experience is Important

The position on subjective experience can easily be confused with radical relativism, the self-stultifying proposition everything is subjective. Another way of stating that proposition is everything is relative. Throughout his book, Cosgrove does not negate the importance of brain studies and empirical data. Instead, he states a simple truth. How we interpret that data can be heavily influenced by our presuppositions. Correlation studies in brain research do not tell us why we subjectively feel things like love, hate, fear, disgust, and other emotions. They do give us important information as to which brain areas are active when we feel certain emotions. Such studies can open the door to helping people who have problems with certain emotions due to brain injuries or malfunctioning in brain connectivity. They do not explain some of the most important things we recognize as our human experience.

The Hard Problem Is Important

Cosgrove states, if we are willing to work seriously with the hard problem, it is going to change our very concept of the material universe because there is a key piece of the universe that is partly non-physical and subjective (p. 163). Researchers in the field of neuroscience have always held that self-conscious experience is the hard problem for brain studies. Many neuroscientists simply want to cast it aside as a meaningless metaphysical proposition. Karl Popper stated decades ago that we need to become enamored more with what we don’t know than what we do know. This for sure is true of the most complex structure in the universe, the human brain.

The Unity of Human Experience and Brain Function Is Important

The study of active neural highways is important in brain studies, such as that pursued by the Connectome. However, it is not the only way to approach the study of the brain and mind. Research methodologies can allow for an interactionist approach to mind/brain. The Connectome itself, as Cosgrove points out, goes beyond the mere study of active neural highways. The brain is an organism that appears to constantly form and reform itself. What does this say about brain/mind interaction? What does it say about human experience that appears to transcend materialistic explanations of human beings?

Top-Down Thinking Is Important and Even Necessary

All people, including scientists, have theories and assumptions. Prior assumptions can play heavily in the way we approach studies in our particular area of interest. That is fine as long as we recognize it. We can look for ways to avoid vicious circular reasoning so as to place to some extent checks and balances on our thinking. The problem we face in science is that based on the epistemology of radical empiricism, studies that seek explanations beyond materialistic explanations are automatically ruled out as non-scientific as though the radical empirical and materialistic presuppositions are the only correct ones for scientific research. It is important, however, to understand what top-down means and doesn’t mean. Top-down . . . means there is something in different levels of the subject matter that have a bearing, and not necessarily a horrible bias, on what you are studying (p. 165). The personhood approach to neuroscience holds that we do not have a full understanding of human beings without considering the person, who is the one seeking to be understood in brain studies. We are more than the material substance of our brain. Different levels of understanding the subject matter of neuroscience should be given a hearing without being written off as non-scientific.

Personhood Is Important and Key to Understanding the Human Brain

We are in the strange position of studying the brain/mind phenomena with our own brains and minds. As such, we are the subject matter of research studies in neuroscience. We are part of the matter of our brains and bodies, and we are above the things around us and in us. There’s a mixture of the sacred, that completely separates the humanities and the sciences in our studies and in our research (p. 165). If we embrace only a materialistic view of the world, then we have eliminated the search for meaning and purpose, which many of us consider germane to our being human. Materialistic presuppositions will never lead us to an understanding of the hard problem and the meaningful questions that make us human, promissory materialism not withstanding.

Conclusion

There is much more to glean from Cosgrove’s book than the six takeaways I delineated above. However, he pointed out in his final chapter that those were the six points he wanted readers to take from his work. What else will you find in this book? Cosgrove takes readers through the amazing research that is occurring in the studies of neural pathways. He provides an interesting take on the Connectome project. Readers will learn about the important neurotransmitters that are active (but not causal) in our personalities. Many counselors who work with depressed, anxious, and schizophrenic clients will recognize the common neurotransmitters that are implicated in these experiences. Discussions of free will, the so-called God spot in the brain, and future technologies, including robotics also fill these pages. Throughout the book, Cosgrove has written sections that speak to persons of interest that form important discussions regarding his position on the brain and mind. These persons of interest cover the pages of history from the Renaissance (Leonardo da Vinci) to the modern area (Oliver Sacks). For the Christian, Cosgrove constantly calls for research methodologies that allow for the place of transcendence and spirituality in our studies of neuroscience. Christians hold that God created the brain and the mind, so in our study of neuroscience, we can approach it in Kepler’s words, thinking God’s thoughts after Him.

Importantly, Cosgrove emphasizes, let me suggest that nothing I say about personhood should take away from the wonder of the human brain because that brain is the embodied person who is you (p. 12). So in taking a stance against radical empiricism and materialism, Cosgrove in no way holds that such studies shouldn’t be continued. They are extremely important for what they uncover, but should not be the whole show. In that vein, his book provides an accessible overview of the amazing research and wonderment regarding the most complex structure in the universe, the human brain. Additionally, the book contains a rich bibliography for further reading in neuroscience studies and research.

Reference: Cosgrove, M. (2016). The Brain, The Mind, And The Person Within: The Enduring Mystery of the Soul. Grand Raids, MI: Kregel Publications.

[Mark Cosgrove received his undergraduate degree from Creighton University and obtained his PhD in Experimental Psychology from Purdue University. He worked at Probe Ministries in Dallas, TX where he spoke to numerous state universities regarding the tension between the Christian Worldview and secular thought. He has taught psychology at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana for over 40 years.]

John V. Jones, Jr., PhD./July 14th, 2023

BOOK REVIEW/CHRISTIAN THOUGHT