Sperry and the Age of Aquarius: science, values and the split brain.

Sperry's empirical work on split-brain patients reinforced a materialist view of mind-brain relations, but his concept of emergent consciousness that can causally influence neural function echoes Cartesian dualism, potentially allowing for free will, individual responsibility, and a synthesis of science with moral and religious values. Sperry insisted his view was entirely materialistic, distinguishing not between non-material mind and material brain but between holism and reductionism. He associated this distinction with right- versus left-brain modes of thought and hoped for unification of holistic and reductionist approaches, believing these modes are fundamentally unified in the normal brain.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Although Sperry's empirical science reinforced a materialist view of the relation between mind and brain, his concept of an emergent consciousness that could causally influence neural function is reminiscent of Cartesian dualism, purportedly allowing for free will, individual responsibility for action and a synthesis of science with moral and religious values. Yet Sperry insisted that his view was entirely materialistic and that the critical distinction was not between a non-material mind and a material brain, but rather between holism and reductionism. A similar distinction is attributed to right- vs left-brain modes of thought as revealed by the split-brain studies, and Sperry's hope for the unification of holistic and reductionist approaches may also relate to his conviction that these two modes are fundamentally unified in the normal brain.