mind & identity · new to this edition
the divided brain
surgeons cut the bridge between the two halves of a brain. one mouth says one thing, one hand writes another. how many people are in the room?
You probably take it for granted that there is exactly one of you: one point of view, one stream of experience, one person deciding what your hands do. Patients who have had the two halves of their brain surgically disconnected put that assumption under real pressure. In 1971 Thomas Nagel asked how many minds such a patient has, and argued that none of the obvious answers works. Four scenes put the question to you. Commit to an answer at each one; the last scene turns the question round.
further reading
- brain bisection and the unity of consciousness original paper
- the unity of consciousness stanford encyclopedia of philosophy
- split-brain wikipedia
- split brain: divided perception but undivided consciousness original paper
- the unity of consciousness and the split-brain syndrome original paper