The Ghost in the Machine.

About The Ghost in the Machine

The Ghost in the Machine is a 1967 book about philosophical psychology by Arthur Koestler. The title is a phrase coined by the Behaviourist Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle to describe the Cartesian dualist account of the mind–body relationship. Koestler shares with Ryle the view that the mind of a person is not an independent non-material entity, temporarily inhabiting and governing the body, yet he argues that Behaviourism's reduction of human beings to mere "meat machines" is also unsatisfactory. Koestler proposes that the relationship between brain and mind is more layered and complex—what he calls a "hierarchical" system rather than a simple duality or monolithic mechanism. The work attempts to explain humanity's self-destructive tendency in terms of individual and collective functioning, philosophy, and overarching, cyclical political–historical dynamics, peaking in the nuclear weapons arena.