Modern research is uncovering more and more detail of what our brain is and how it works. We are living, thinking creatures who carry around with us an amazing organic supercomputer in our heads.
But what is the relationship between our brains and our minds—and ultimately our sense of identity as a person? Are we more than machines? Is free-will an illusion? Do we have a soul?
Brain Imaging Scientist Sharon Dirckx lays out the current understanding of who we are from biologists, philosophers, theologians and psychologists, and points towards a bigger picture that suggests answers to the fundamental questions of our existence. Not just "What am I?", but "Who am I?"—and "Why am I?"
Read this book to gain valuable insight into what modern research is telling us about ourselves, or to give a skeptical friend to challenge the idea that we are merely material beings living in a material world.
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Am I Just My Brain?
Modern research is uncovering more and more detail of what our brain is and how it works. We are living, thinking creatures who carry around with us an amazing organic supercomputer in our heads.
But what is the relationship between our brains and our minds—and ultimately our sense of identity as a person? Are we more than machines? Is free-will an illusion? Do we have a soul?
Brain Imaging Scientist Sharon Dirckx lays out the current understanding of who we are from biologists, philosophers, theologians and psychologists, and points towards a bigger picture that suggests answers to the fundamental questions of our existence. Not just "What am I?", but "Who am I?"—and "Why am I?"
Read this book to gain valuable insight into what modern research is telling us about ourselves, or to give a skeptical friend to challenge the idea that we are merely material beings living in a material world.
Modern research is uncovering more and more detail of what our brain is and how it works. We are living, thinking creatures who carry around with us an amazing organic supercomputer in our heads.
But what is the relationship between our brains and our minds—and ultimately our sense of identity as a person? Are we more than machines? Is free-will an illusion? Do we have a soul?
Brain Imaging Scientist Sharon Dirckx lays out the current understanding of who we are from biologists, philosophers, theologians and psychologists, and points towards a bigger picture that suggests answers to the fundamental questions of our existence. Not just "What am I?", but "Who am I?"—and "Why am I?"
Read this book to gain valuable insight into what modern research is telling us about ourselves, or to give a skeptical friend to challenge the idea that we are merely material beings living in a material world.
Sharon Dirckx is a Senior Tutor at OCCA The Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics. Originally from a scientific background, she has a PhD in brain imaging from the University of Cambridge and has held research positions at the University of Oxford, UK, and the Medical College of Wisconsin, USA. She is a regular speaker at Universities, conferences and other events. Sharon lives in Oxford with her husband and two young children.
Table of Contents
Introduction 7
Glossary 11
1 Am I really just my brain? 13
2 Is belief in the soul out of date? 29
3 Are we just machines? 39
4 Are we more than machines? 55
5 Is free will an illusion? 75
6 Are we hard-wired to believe? 91
7 Is religious experience just brain activity? 105
