De la Mettrie's Ghost - (MacMillan Science) by C Nunn (Hardcover)

About the Book

A powerful new view of the human brain and free will

Book Synopsis

This book is about how we make choices. It is a compelling analysis of the nature of free will, drawing together evidence from chemistry, literature, politics, history and beyond. Psychiatrist Chris Nunn elegantly explores the revolutions in medicine, genetics, bioethics and neuroscience spurred by Julien de la Mettrie's 300-year-old tract Man the Machine. Nunn concludes that a mechanistic view of the human brain, though once fruitful, is now moribund. He proposes a powerful alternative: that stories, recorded in our memories throughout life, are the mediators of free choice. Nunn demonstrates how this original approach could reconcile the latest brain-imaging results and our seemingly contradictory intuition about decision making and responsibility.

Review Quotes

'Meaty is one word for this dense little book. Rich and savory are others.' - Booklist

'4/5: an accessible and well-written book...I urge you to read it and decide on these critical issues for yourself.' - Dr Susan Blackmore author of Conciousness, A Very Short Introduction(OUP) writing in BBC Focus Magazine

'This is an amazingly clear book about free will that points us in some interesting directions.' - Mary Midgley, Times Higher Educational Supplement

'very enjoyable - an important contribution to the dialogues on free will' - PsycCRITIQUES, American Psychological Association

About the Author

CHRIS NUNN is Associate Editor of the Journal of Consciousness Studies. He has written numerous papers, articles and book reviews. His first book, Awareness, an examination of current scientific thinking about the nature of consciousness, was published by Routledge in 1996. He has spent 30 years as a consultant psychiatrist and researcher specializing in manic-depression and the senses, latterly at Southampton University in the UK.