Abstract

This article will argue from a Scriptural viewpoint that human nature is not reducible to a set of individual physical characteristics but is embodied and all the qualities of being human are mutually dependent. The substance for this statement is rooted in the biblical confession about the characteristics of the resurrected Body of Christ. This premise could assist the sciences in their quest to define human nature, specifically relating to the mind/brain problem. In addition, it could contribute to the need for consilience and lead scientific research into a more comprehensive understanding of the human mind and brain and its embedded nature.

Highlights

  • The substance for this statement is rooted in the biblical confession about the characteristics of the resurrected Body of Christ. This premise could assist the sciences in their quest to define human nature, relating to the mind/brain problem

  • How do you explain the nature of human nature? It seems that the famous paraphrase about the road ahead between the Cheshire Cat and Alice in Lewis Carroll’s classic book: Alice in Wonderland, is true, when contemplating about human nature, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there” (Carroll 1993)

  • The challenge for natural scientists is a revaluation of their own beliefs about the real meaning of what scientific endeavour entail, and to consider the possibility that natural science is not the only gateway to unlock the mysteries of creation and human nature

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Summary

Introduction

How do you explain the nature of human nature? It seems that the famous paraphrase about the road ahead between the Cheshire Cat and Alice in Lewis Carroll’s classic book: Alice in Wonderland, is true, when contemplating about human nature, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there” (Carroll 1993). Incomplete Nature: how mind emerged from matter (2012), Deacon investigates this phenomena from the perspective of the philosophy of evolutionary biology He claims that current research within the neurosciences shows an intrinsic incompleteness regarding a comprehension of what it means to be human, “Our scientific theories have failed to explain what matters. It is in conflict with the foresight of early Patristic thinkers (e.g. Tertullian) who defended the psychosomatic unity, even though they made a distinction between body and soul (Kärkkäinen 2015:309) The dominance of this embedded dualism within the physicalist approach in the neurosciences led to the idea that the brain could be divided into separate regions, each of which is solely responsible for certain physical, as well as mental functions. I will briefly discuss this option as a possible solution to the mind/brain problem and as a plausible explanation of the nature of human nature

Non-reductive physicalism
An alternative option
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