Phineas Gage and The Soul

2 Commentsby   |  10.02.10  |  Beginning of Scientific Psychology (Part III-A)

Yesterday in class we talked a little bit about a man who was, in his time and even today, both a walking miracle as well as a scientific phenomenon: Phineas Gage. For those that don’t remember, Phineas Gage was a foreman for the American railroad business back in the mid 1800’s. He survived an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his left frontal lobe and leaving him with significant behavioral and personality changes. Following his accident, he lived for almost twelve more years before he died in San Francisco in 1860. Below is a picture of Phineas holding the tamping iron that pierced his brain and left him, according to those close to him, “no longer Gage.”

As I mentioned before, Phineas’ injury changed both his behavior and his personality considerably. My question is: where does the soul fit into this story? Are personality, behavior and the soul intertwined? If so, was Phineas’ soul changed because of an alteration to his biological make-up, as were his personality and behavior? Or is the soul completely outside the realm of biological explanations like brain functioning? How are the soul and personality related, if at all? I’m sorry for the question spree, but I am really interested in different theories regarding this topic. These questions may be better answered with definitions of the terms we are dealing with: the soul, personality , and behavior. I have provided links to the definitions below if you would like to use them.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/soul

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/personality

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/behavior

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2 Comments

  1. Michelle Nix
    11:39 pm, 10.03.10

    I think you pose very interesting questions about the concept of the soul in relation to personality and behavior. I honestly have no idea how you can explain Gage’s case where his personality completely changed. I guess I can give my opinion and hope that nothing like what happened to Gage ever happens to me. I do believe that the soul is a separate entity in human beings. I believe it is driven by something beyond the physical world and beyond what we can comprehend; therefore, it cannot completely being affected by the physical world. I think that even if we experienced a brain injury that changed who we were or what we thought, then we would still have this spiritual aspect inside us. I think we would still have a driving force deep within us that connects us to the One who created us. I don’t know if this answers your question, but they really stumped me too. Thanks for the post.

  2. Bradley Campbell
    1:10 pm, 10.04.10

    Very interesting post, This has been a theme that I have thought much about. What really defines a soul? I remember arguing with a friend that by some of the rules of what defines a soul that certain animals show the characteristics of possessing a soul. It seems that the existential ability to being self aware is one of the defining characteristics of a soul. If someone experienced significant enough brain damage, could they lose their ability to be self aware? Would that mean that a soul is a possessive item that could be lost? Heavy stuff……

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