XPost: alt.philosophy, alt.atheism, talk.atheism   
   From: craig.franck@verizon.net   
      
   "Immortalist" wrote   
      
   > "Joseph H" wrote   
      
   >> What is this thing called self?   
   >>   
   >> Is it.......   
   >>   
   >   
   > the activities of particular nerve cells, but not the nerve cells   
   > themselves?   
   >   
   > like the sheen and smooth qualities of water when we see through   
   > magnification that it is just grainy atoms   
   >   
   > like the melody of many instruments playing together, that something that   
   > vanishes when they play seperately   
   >   
   > a biological process that happens when nerve cells are active   
      
   From all that you provided at the end of this post I'm sure you are   
   aware this is a complicated issue, but identifying the "self"  as   
   activities of brain cells or even biological structures is the wrong level   
   of abstraction.   
      
   To have a self you most likely need a body, but even this, as Merleau-   
   Ponty has pointed out, requires an elaborate theory of perception that   
   functions unconsciously in most persons. Knowing that you can't hear   
   my thoughts or stubbing your toe won't cause me pain probably can't   
   be expressed as simple neuronal patterns, and this is still at the   
   relatively primitive phase of body/environment distinction.   
      
   True Self-ness requires a full-blown theory at least as elaborate as   
   Catholic theology. (Simply explaining why one body can or can't have   
   multiple selves would require an essay-length treatment. The same   
   is true for Buddhist self vs. Western self.)   
      
   So calling an elaborate social fiction the activities of  brain cells just   
   means all mental activity is most likely brain activity which isn't   
   particularly useful as an explanation.   
      
   --   
   Craig Franck   
   craig.franck@verizon.net   
   Cortland, NY   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)