Paul asked:
> But what has this to do with the spirit hypothesis as opposed to the
> alternative hypothesis that this arises from the nervous system?
It is legitimate to speak of 'spirit' in a non-supernatural and yet not
merely biological (nervous system) sense. Ordinary language does this all
the time - we talk about the 'human spirit', as Jurriaan says, and also
about being in 'high spirits', about a 'spirited defense' of your arguments,
about a Zeitgeist and about the esprit de corps; etc.
Our spirit is our emotions. Emotions, however, do not arise from the nervous
system; they arise from our relations with the physical and social world.
They have a history. Think for example of courtly love in the late Middle
Ages.
One problem with much of today's science is that it reduces this spirit to
the physiological level. This will never convince anyone who quite rightly
believes we are more than organic automatons - and it might have the
counterproductive effect of driving them towards religion.
Paula
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Received on Wed Mar 25 17:17:02 2009
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