Abstract
THIS volume is a sequel of the author's “Théorie nouvelle de la vie,” which was published last year. The most interesting feature of that theory was the doctrine that constructive activity of living substance was to be regarded as the chief accompaniment of work, while destruction of tissue took place chiefly during rest. In this work consciousness is regarded as an epiphenomenon which in no way interferes with biological determinism. The author assumes the existence of a molecular consciousness which arises from atomic consciousness, and, by a process of fusion, passes into plastidular consciousness, or that of the lowest living organic element. The consciousness of man or of the higher animals is regarded as the sum of the individual consciousness of the neurons of which the nervous system is composed, and is dependent on the arrangement of the neurons. Starting from these assumptions, the author adopts the views of Duval and Ramon y Cayal, and explains such modifications of consciousness as sleep and altered personality by differences in the relations of the neurons to one another.
Le Déterminisme biologique et la Personnalité Consciente.
By Félix Le Dantec. Pp. 158. (Paris: Alcan, 1897.)
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Le Déterminisme biologique et la Personnalité Consciente. Nature 55, 557 (1897). https://doi.org/10.1038/055557c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/055557c0