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<\/div>\nI had to force myself to pick up The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist\u2019s Case for the Existence of the Soul<\/a> When I say I am disappointed with the book thus far, I wish to be clear that my disappointment stems largely from the fact that, even though Beauregard and O\u2019Leary have some very important and valuable things to say, the acrimonious tone and ridicule leave a bad taste in the reader\u2019s mouth. Moreover, the authors seem to leave no room for any middle ground or additional options other than their own and the opposing extreme of reductionist materialism.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what I appreciated about the book: It highlights the fact that some are claiming that experiments on the neuroscience of religious experience are claiming more than is justified by the evidence currently available. I genuinely agree with the authors when they object to those who suggest that, because we are animals, there is nothing genuinely distinctive about us (pp.41-42). Such \u201cnothing buttery\u201d or reductionism is unjustified. To provide a famous example, the band The Bloodhound Gang sang a song which said \u201cYou and me baby ain\u2019t nothing but mammals, so let\u2019s do it like they do on the Discovery Channel\u201d. When people use (or rather abuse) scientific conclusions in this, it is not inappropriate to object. We clearly are able to reflect on our actions and not follow our instincts in a way that is, as far as we know, unique among the life forms on our planet.<\/p>\n I am thus happy that, whereas a reviewer in the most recent issue of the Reports of the National Center for Science Education<\/a> felt disappointed that she was unable to find three good things to say before offering criticism when reviewing one of O\u2019Leary\u2019s earlier books, I was able to find one. Alas, I must immediately qualify it. Creationists and proponents of Intelligent Design regularly point to things that are still unknown about the details of evolutionary history and the mechanisms that drove it, and then draw the completely illegitimate inference that this indicates something wrong with the theory itself. The fact that we do not know certain things about religious experience and the brain<\/a> does not mean that we will not know them, nor does it make hypothesizing based on what we do know inappropriate.<\/p>\n To claim that the only way to account for spirituality and genuine personhood is to posit an immaterial soul is a non sequitur<\/em>. It is like saying that, since neither hydrogen nor oxygen is wet, when God creates water he must add an immaterial \u201csoul of wetness\u201d to it. It is much more scientific, and much more plausible, to suggest that the properties of water are emergent properties. We can say that water is not<\/em> just hydrogen and oxygen<\/em>, without having to deny that it is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, or posit something additional added to it. This is the concept of emergent properties<\/a><\/em>. Why viewing water, or the soul, in this way would be felt to be reductionistic materialism is hard to fathom. The author of Genesis viewed Adam as a psychosomatic unity, an animated body rather than an incarnate soul. What Nancey Murphy<\/a> calls \u201cnon-reductive physicalism<\/a>\u201d has been an interesting place of intersection between modern science and Biblical studies, as Joel Green<\/a> has noted in several studies. The authors of this book, on the other hand, take the typical ID approach: matter, they say, cannot account for mind, so it must be something metaphysical. But if explosive hydrogen and combustible oxygen can, in combination, quench our thirst, and if silicon in a complex arrangement with other elements and materials can be manifested as a video game, then why is an explanation of mind in terms of the physical felt to be impossible by definition? They are certainly right that most of our questions about mind are unanswered. But rather than follow ID in stopping the search for understanding, I express my gratitude to the scientists who are doing the studies which, although they will probably not provide the answer to these questions, are making the progress necessary so that future generations of scientists will have a serious chance to do so.<\/p>\n Neurotheology<\/a> is a topic of widespread interest, and Beauregard and O\u2019Leary had the opportunity to communicate clearly the difference between what the scientists currently know and what the media sometimes claims about their results. Instead, other authors, including ones who struck me as genuinely seeking to not go beyond the evidence, are ridiculed, if you can believe it (take a look at p.60 if you can\u2019t), for inserting words like \u201cmay\u201d and \u201cpossibly\u201d into their work! Serious scientific publications such as Scientific American<\/a> have looked at this topic, and present the subject in an appropriately balanced way. Ironically, but perhaps not surprisingly, it is better to look there than in Beauregard\u2019s own book to get a balanced understanding of his research and what it does and doesn\u2019t prove.<\/p>\n
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