The Physiology of Consciousness, Vol. 3 (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Excerpt from The Physiology of Consciousness, Vol. 3

This volume was prepared in the hope of presenting in a simple manner those physiological conditions which underlie the rational treatment of abnormal mental conditions.

If the manner in which the subject is presented appears too grossly materialistic in the light of the idealistic methods which have characterized most of previous discussions of the processes of consciousness, it must be remembered that what ever is really true is oi more worth than even the most beautiful of untrue ideas. We do not now think of astron omy as being materialistic because the laws which govern the heavenly bodies are being determined. The glory of the nightly sky is not lessened because the stars have been analyzed and the planets have been weighed. The forces active in the formation of mountains and oceans are studied. Even the most whimsical of Nature's moods, the variations in the weather, are subject to laws which are being daily made more clear. The development of plants and animals, the physiological activities of the human body and its devel opment, are studied, and the immutable laws are being demonstrated day by day. In all the domain of human thought, the study of conscious phenomena alone has been kept subject to the necessity for an idealistic method of treat ment. This method, which long retarded the development of other sciences, should be set aside also in the study of conscious phenomena. A rational psychology must depend upon the use of those methods which have been successful in the study of other sciences.

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