Mark Cosgrove. The Brain, the Mind, and the Person Within: The Enduring Mystery of the Soul. Kregel Academic, 2018. See here to purchase the book.
Mark Cosgrove teaches psychology at Taylor University. The Brain, the Mind, and the Person Within contains Cosgrove’s reflections as a Christian on issues surrounding the brain.
Here are some of my thoughts about the book:
A. In part, what Cosgrove’s book appears to be is a defense of the
existence of the soul. He does not agree with materialism or
naturalism, the idea that human consciousness and mind are due entirely
to the physical brain. Cosgrove does well to dispute the simplistic
nature of some materialist and naturalist approaches. For example,
Cosgrove doubts that certain aspects of the human mind (i.e.,
creativity, spirituality) can be attributed to one part of the brain,
for different parts of the brain work together. But Cosgrove does not
really provide a rigorous intellectual defense of the soul’s existence.
A lot of the time, he provides rhetorical flourish, as he grandly asks
if the nobility and magnificence of human creativity, intellect, and
spirituality can be attributed merely to the brain. My question in
reading this book was often, “Why not?” Cosgrove shows in the book that
the structure of the brain at least relates to these things, as well as
influences how humans are. Why is a soul necessary, and what role does
it play? Cosgrove did not offer much of an answer to that question.
B. Cosgrove speaks empathetically and knowledgeably about people who
are not neurotypical, such as Temple Grandin, who has autism and thinks
in pictures. At the same time, he stresses that God wants people to be
in interpersonal relationships. On the one hand, that is a necessary
point to make: people with autism need people who care about them so
that they do not fall through the cracks and can make the unique
contribution that they make. On the other hand, the cheery evangelical
“You need to be in relationships” line can make autistic Christians feel
as if they are displeasing to God, since they struggle to form
relationships and to reach out to others.
C. Cosgrove’s discussion of the advancements that are being made in
brain-related research and technology is mind-blowing, going beyond the
sorts of things that one may encounter in science fiction. To quote
Cosgrove on page 142: “We hear of mind-reading and dream-reading
computers, humanoid robots, immersion entertainment, cyborg military
humans, linking monkeys into a shared brain network, and more.”
Cosgrove also mentions potential advancements in treating Parkinson’s
and depression. In some cases, Cosgrove questions whether some of these
developments will deliver. He expresses doubt that humans will be able
to achieve immortality by downloading their consciousness onto a
computer, for can they really download their very selves (not just
things that their brains have done) onto a computer? But, overall,
Cosgrove sees these developments as realistic, and not as occurring in
the far, far future, but rather sooner than fifty years! A lot of this
was mind-blowing, and some of it was disturbing, for unexplainable
reasons. The scenario of the world lacking any problems at all, and the
sky being the limits in terms of what people can accomplish, does not
seem quite right: it is almost as if humans would not need God anymore,
since they can become gods themselves. And how would humans grow and
develop character, if everything is perfect? At the same time, I cannot
identify a specific reason why these new developments would be bad, or
worse than the luxuries that many humans have now. Cosgrove does well
to say that Christians should not simply dismiss these things as bad in a
knee-jerk fashion. Overall, though, his discussion of the ethical and
spiritual questions that Christians should ask in response to these
developments was somewhat thin.
D. The book excels in the information and critiques that it
provides. For instance, some argue that human decisions are not free
but are preceded by and attributable to certain sparks in the brain.
Cosgrove effectively demonstrates that the study that supposedly
demonstrates this does not necessarily support it, for there are other
possible explanations for what occurred in that study.
E. The book has a winsome, thoughtful quality. In terms of being a
rigorous philosophical and scientific defense of the soul, it falls
short. As a reflective, meandering book about the spiritual
implications of research about the brain, it is charming and enjoyable
to read. The book also refers to other books that attempt to tackle the
mind-body problem and issues surrounding the brain, and Cosgrove does
make them sound worth reading, as they likely are.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My review is honest.