The Nature of Mind and Human Automatism (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Nature of Mind and Human AutomatismThe basis of the following work was written some eight or nine years ago during my student days at the medical school, and afterwards served as a graduation thesis. Having been urged to publish this thesis by my friends, it was enlarged between two and three years ago to its present size. I do not think that the views expressed in the earlier essay have been changed in any important particular, though the phraseology has been in many passages altered, partly to make it harmonize with the conventional forms of expression used generally by writers on this subject, and partly because mature reflection made me aware that some of the original terms and phrases employed either did not correctly explain my meaning, or were lacking in precision and consequently capable of different interpretations. Many points which were of necessity merely touched upon in the earlier essay and hence liable to misinterpretation, have been since greatly expanded, and, especially in the chapter on "Self-Determination," explained more fully, extended reasons being given for the conclusions expressed. The final chapter, on "Materialism," has been entirely added. As I have pursued my studies on this subject, the views of other writers have been so far incorporated and criticised as has been thought would make the subject-matter clearer.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.