Thomas Henry Huxley and neuroscience. 1999

C U Smith
Vision Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham.

In the latter decades of the nineteenth century Thomas Henry Huxley was at the heart of British Science: President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1870), President of the Royal Society (1883-86), Chairman of innumerable committees. His thought in many ways characterises the spirit of the 'high' Victorian age in Britain. He was not only the most eminent academic biologist of his time but also deeply interested in philosophical issues. His re-examination of the evolution of the brain in response to Richard Owen's 'telenomic' views formed the kernel of the notorious debate at the 1860 meeting of the British Association in Oxford. From his early youth until old age he thought long and hard about the mind/body problem. This paper follows the development of his ideas and shows how in debate with many of the leading thinkers of his age, in the X-club and the Metaphysical Society, he struggled to develop a biologically-based account of the relationship between mind and brain. However, at the end, he seems to have recognized that his position was not entirely satisfactory and ultimately famously confessing himself 'agnostic' turned from metaphysics to devote himself to more practical issues. The unresolved problems of mind and brain which perplexed Huxley remain to torment his epigoni.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009488 Neurosciences The scientific disciplines concerned with the embryology, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, etc., of the nervous system. Neuroscience
D011611 Psychosomatic Medicine A system of medicine which aims at discovering the exact nature of the relationship between the emotions and bodily function, affirming the principle that the mind and body are one. Medicine, Psychosomatic
D006113 United Kingdom Country in northwestern Europe including Great Britain and the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland, located between the North Sea and north Atlantic Ocean. The capital is London. Great Britain,Isle of Man
D049672 History, 19th Century Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era. 19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History

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