Foreword to Norman on MacKay

Malcolm Jeeves

The United States government named the 1990s the Decade of the Brain. The current decade has been labeled the Decade of the Mind. The media daily report exciting discoveries made by those studying the relation of mind and brain. But debates about the relation of mind and brain are not conveniently confined to cognitive neuroscientists and philosophers of mind. They spill over into the concerns of theologians, ethicists and those concerned with debates about how free we are to act and behave as we would choose.

For more than half a century the views of one neuroscientist/philosopher, the late Professor Donald MacKay, had a major influence on debates about mind and brain and soul and body. Donald MacKay’s views continue to influence discussions not only amongst philosophers of mind and brain, but also amongst philosophical theologians. This widespread influence calls for as clear a statement of the views that Donald MacKay had on a series of important issues at the interfaces of science and faith. This book provides it. David Norman has performed an invaluable service to scientists, philosophers, theologians and all those who take their Christian faith seriously. 

Dealing as MacKay often did with complex issues, and even given his remarkable ability to expound his ideas clearly, it remains the case that it has been, and still is, all too easy to misrepresent what Donald MacKay was really saying. David Norman sets Donald MacKay’s thinking in the context of his personal background and beliefs and of his activities as a scientist and leading apologist for the continuing relevance of Christian faith.

This book traces out, from MacKay’s many published works, the way his thinking began, was presented and developed on topics such as complementarity, logical relativity, and individual eschatology and just what he meant by describing himself as a Comprehensive Realist.

As David Norman spells out the story, he highlights the pitfalls that even some distinguished thinkers have fallen into in interpreting some of Donald MacKay’s many writings. How do we know the difference between a set of contradictory statements and a set of complementary statements? What is the relationship between brain stories and mind stories? What exactly do we mean by logical relativity and logical complementarity? And how are answers to these questions relevant to widespread debates about individual responsibility and individual eschatology? And he reminds us never to forget Donald MacKay’s insistence upon the need at all times for ‘Semantic hygiene’ and, as a Christian, a constant recognition of our radical dependence on the sustaining power of our Creator. And he asks whether some of Donald MacKay’s views changed towards the end of his life as he reflected further on topics such as re-embodiment and resurrection.

All of the issues listed above are elegantly expounded and sympathetically dealt with by David Norman and we are all greatly in his debt for doing so. My comments on this book are not as a disinterested academic. I met Donald MacKay towards the end of the Second World War and the late 1940s onwards our mutual scientific interests and issues at the interface of science and our shared Christian faith led to frequent meetings and a deep enduring friendship developed. He was my best man at our wedding and I was with him a few days before he died. I, like all those who knew him, will continue to give thanks for his life and his penetrating thinking. As someone who was thus privileged to know Donald MacKay as a friend, colleague, and co-author, for more than 50 years, I am delighted now to welcome and hope for the widest possible circulation of this timely book. 

Emeritus Professor Malcolm Jeeves, C.B.E., F.Med Sci., F.B.Ps.S., F.R.S.E. is Past President, The Royal Society of Edinburgh. You can use this link to order a copy of Brain, Mind and Soul in the Theological Psychology of Donald MacKay, 1922–1987 (Edwin Mellen Press, 2008).

0 Responses • Features, Wed 23 Apr 2008