Mind, it does matter

Karl H. Pribram

pp. 97-111

in: Stuart Spicker, Tristram Engelhardt (eds), Philosophical dimensions of the neuro-medical sciences, Berlin, Springer, 1976

Abstract

The title of this paper, "Mind, It Does Matter," is a variant on the old solipsistic saw: "Never mind, no matter." I have always been intrigued by this denial of the mind-brain problem but have found it untenable in pursuing neurobehavioral and neuropsychological research. The results of the research - and I am aware of the criticism that the results of brain research can have no bearing on ontological issues — have led me to a position best described as a biological constructional realism. As a biologist and a physician I can attest to the "reality" of the psychological as well as the physical constructions that I face daily in laboratory and clinic. My realism is therefore neither naive nor physicalistic. In addition, it differs from critical realism in its emphasis on construction; critical realists are prone to accept their perceptions of the physical world as more or less veridical - the constructionalist is apt to emphasize the relativistic nature of consensual validation.