Psychophysiological Problem: The Unity of Material and Ideal in Human

Aim. To reveal the essence of the psychophysiological problem from the position of the unity of the material and the ideal in the human brain activity.

Methodology. In the process of research, the theoretical method of scientific knowledge, the general philosophical dialectical method, as well as methods of abstraction, induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, and mental modeling of material and ideal processes in the activity of the human brain were used.

Results.  The author proposes a three-level model of understanding and reflection of reality, which distinguishes automatic unconscious processes of biological reflection, partially conscious subjective processes of the lower consciousness, and fully conscious and understood processes of the highest consciousness. In the activity of the human brain, according to this model, the subjective component of reflex acts and dual transitional material-ideal and ideal-material processes are distinguished, which are considered as objective reality. In the article, the author connects the material-physiological action, accompanied by subjective personal experiences, with the ideal mental one. Evidence is provided of the influence of the ideal-material on the physical. In this regard, the article presents the idea of Y. M. Rinpoche on the relationship between mind and body, the ideas of the physicalist D. Chalmers related to the relationship between the mind and the body are analyzed, the views of D. Dennett on the equivalence of the mental and physical, and the ideas of D. V. Ivanov on the awareness of mental states. The work also evaluates the possibility of the influence of mental states on bodily processes and the “transition” of the ideal into material motor actions. To prove the unity of the material and the ideal in the human brain activity, a thought experiment called “Brain outside the body” is presented, which idealizes the work of the brain outside the body. In conclusion, the author draws attention to the unity of the material and the ideal from the perspective of the evolutionary approach and at the same time emphasizes the distinctive feature of the material process from the ideal..

Research implications. The work is the first to rethink the psychophysiological problem and the process of mental reflection of the external world from the position of the unity of the material and the ideal in the activity of the human brain. An attempt has been made to show the true essence and nature of the mental reflection of objects and phenomena of the external world based on the systemic organization of mental activity of the brain.

1. Akvinsky F. Uchenie o dushe [The Doctrine of the Soul]. St. Petersburg, Azbuka Publ., Azbuka-Akktikus Publ., 2018. 480 p.

2. Anohin P. K. Ocherki po fiziologii funkcional’nyh system [Essays on the Physiology of Functional Systems]. Moscow, Kniga po Trebovaniyu Publ., 2013. 450 p.

3. Artemenkov A. A. [Category “Brain” in Solving Interdisciplinary Neuroscientific Problems of Our Time: The Highest Conscious]. In: Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo oblastnogo universiteta. Seriya: Filosofskie nauki [Bulletin of the Moscow Region State University. Series: Philosophy], 2022, no. 2, pp. 31–48.

4. Artemenkov A. A. [Noocephalization of the Modern Human in the Anthropogenic Urban Environment]. In: Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal’nogo universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye i social’nye nauki [Vestnik NarFU. Philisophy], 2022, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 113–121.

5. Afanasyev V. G. Mir zhivogo: Sistemnost’, evolyuciya i upravlenie [The Living World: Systematicity, Evolution and Management]. Moscow, LKI Publ., 2019. 334 p.

6. Vasilyev V. V. Soznanie i veshchi: Ocherk fenomenalisticheskoj ontologii [Consciousness and Things: An Essay on Phenomenalistic Ontology]. Moscow, LENAND Publ., 2021. 240 p.

7. Dennet D. Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness (Rus. ed.: Kedrova M. O., transl. Sladkie gryozy: chem filosofiya meshaet nauke o soznanii. Moscow, URSS Publ., LENAND Publ., 2017. 304 p.).

8. Doidge N. The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triump from the Fronties of Brain Science (Rus. ed.: Vinogradova E. A., transl. Plastichnost’ mozga: potryasayushchie fakty o tom, kak mysli sposobny menyat’ strukturu i funkcii nashego mozga. Moscow, Eksmo Publ., 2021. 576 p.).

9. Ivanov D. V. Priroda fenomenal’nogo soznaniya [The Nature of Phenomenal Consciousness]. Moscow, LIBROKOM Publ., 2020. 240 p.

10. Nozdrachev A. D., Scherbatykh Yu. V. [Physiology and Psychology – Dialectics of Interaction in Solving a Psychophysiological Problem]. In: Rossijskij fiziologicheskij zhurnal im. I. M. Sechenova [Russian Journal of Physiology], 2021, vol. 107, vol. 2, pp. 154–176.

11. Pavlov I. P. Izbrannye trudy po fiziologii vysshej nervnoj deyatel’nosti [Selected Works on the Physiology of Higher Nervous Activity]. Moscow, LENAND Publ., 2022. 256 p.

12. Rinpoche J. M. The Buddha, the Brain, And the Science of Happiness. A Practical Guide for Transforming Your Life (Rus. ed.: Sonam J., transl. Budda, mozg i nejrofiziologiya schast’ya. Kak izmenit’ zhizn’ k luchshemu. Prakticheskoe rukovodstvo. Moscow, Orientaliya Publ., 2022. 368 p.).

13. Safronov A. V. Kauzal’nyj dualism [Causal Dualism]. Moscow, Eksmo Publ., 2021. 224 p.

14. Svet M. S. Vvedenie v nejrofiziologiyu konceptual’nogo myshleniya: Kod neopredelyonnosti. Kak nashi individual’nye konceptual’nye sistemy opredelyayut myshlenie, obuslavlivayut povedenie i formiruyut vospriyatie [Introduction to the Neurophysiology of Conceptual Thinking: The Code of Uncertainty. How our Individual Conceptual Systems Guide Thinking, Condition Behavior, and Shape Perception]. Moscow, LENAND Publ., 2022. 408 p.

15. Sechenov I. M. Elementy mysli: Vpechatleniya i dejstvitel’nost’: Issledovanie psihiki cheloveka i eyo vzaimosvyazi s vneshnim mirom [Elements of Thought: Impressions and Reality: A Study of the Human Psyche and Its Relationship with the Outside World]. Moscow, LIBROKOM Publ., 2022. 224 p.

16. Sudakov K. V. [Construction Information System of Mental Architectonics]. In: Rossijskij mediko-biologicheskij vestnik imeni akademika I. P. Pavlova [I. P. Pavlov Russian Medical Biological Herald], 2012, no. 2, pp. 33–47.

17. Uhtomsky A. A. Dominanta [Dominant]. St. Petersburg, Piter Publ., 2019. 512 p.

18. Chalmers D. The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory (Rus. ed.: Vasil’ev V. V., transl. Soznayushchij um: v poiskah fundamental’noj teorii. Moscow, URSS Publ., LIBROKOM Publ., 2019. 512 p.).

19. Chuprikova N. I. [Mental Reality and the Subject of Psychology]. In: Psihologicheskij zhurnal [Psychological Journal], 2020, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 92–104.

20. Yugaj G. A. Obshchaya teoriya zhizni: Dialektika formirovaniya [General Theory of Life: Dialectics of Formation]. Moscow, LENAND Publ., 2020. 256 p.