Isaiah Berlin, one of my favorite philosophers of all time, explains human freedom, through tracing the teleological and deontological history of philosophy. In the end he exclaims that science don't provide any goal. Somewhere it is human's determination which decide the authenticity of our life. We are extremely malleable. But, at the same time we have capacity to choose between just and unjust. This capacity to exercise a choice which is just or unjust makes us humans. As Huxley or Darwin expounds about human nature where a weak is crushed by a mighty creature. In that sense, nature don't have any moral content. But humans are capable to think about weak and strong at the same time. This unique capacity is a bulwark to ensure freedom. This notion is purely Kantian, which supports human dignity and human agency over teleological or theological determinism. Somewhere Stoics and existentialists like Sartre agree with this line of thinking. Human agency in today's world has disappeared unfortunately. We choose not out of volition but because society tends to think in that way. We in fact don't choose. We follow mechanically as if a machine has already been pre-programmed. Human nature has lost its characteristic to decide the moral contents valuable and respect-worthy for human dignity. That is a point of reference which perhaps has affected human's consciousness. We think that we are superior creature, someone who is capable to disturb the harmony. We have a unique capacity to make the nature plaything and in a way destroy what has been hitherto beautiful and full of wonders. This is not meant for human freedom. Freedom comes with responsibility as someone rightly said. Today there are all too freedom but where is justice? Where does lie the responsibility to think beyond the horizon of triviality? Only self interest runs in a robotic world where human agency is rhetorically claimed but in fact agency is no more. Everything is mysteriously submerged in tune of consumption and destruction. Life is not an end but process. But process itself has become boring and burdensome.
I Introduction: Bridging Physiology and Psychology William James, in his landmark work The Principles of Psychology, provides a foundational framework connecting the brain's physiological mechanisms to the purposive, selective, and unified nature of conscious mental life. This blog analyzes James’s synthesis, which grounds psychological phenomena in the material workings of the nervous system without reducing consciousness to a mere epiphenomenon. We will explore his hierarchical model of the brain, which evolves from simple reflex actions in the lower nerve centers to the complex, deliberative functions of the cerebrum. Key themes include the role of the cerebrum as an organ of foresight and prudence, the physiological mechanism of habit as the process by which experience physically imprints itself upon the brain’s plastic matter, and consciousness's essential function as a “selecting agency” that is causally efficacious in steering the organism toward its own interests. Ultim...
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