The Mind and the Brain Being the Authorised Translation of L'Âme et le Corps

"The Mind and the Brain" by Alfred Binet is a scientific publication written in the late 19th to early 20th century. This work explores the intricate relationship between the mind and matter, focusing particularly on the nature of consciousness and sensation. Binet aims to establish distinctions between mental and physical phenomena, engaging with various philosophical perspectives while proposing his own insights on the subject. At the start of the book, Binet introduces the complex problem of differentiating between the mind and matter. He emphasizes the difficulty of this distinction when analyzed deeply, despite the apparent simplicity of contrasting thought with physical objects. Binet articulates that our understanding of the external world is confined to our sensations, which act as intermediaries between ourselves and the objects we perceive. He critiques common philosophical methods for defining these concepts, advocating for a more systematic approach that carefully examines both the characteristics of mental states and the sensory experiences that inform our knowledge of the material world. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Alfred Binet, born Alfredo Binetti, was a French psychologist who together with Théodore Simon invented the first practical intelligence test, the Binet–Simon test. In 1904, Binet took part in a commission set up by the French Ministry of Education to decide whether school children with learning difficulties should be sent to a special boarding school attached to a lunatic asylum, as advocated by the French psychiatrist and politician Désiré-Magloire Bourneville, or whether they should be educated in classes attached to regular schools as advocated by the Société libre pour l'étude psychologique de l'enfant (SLEPE) of which Binet was a member. There was also debate over who should decide whether a child was capable enough for regular education. Bourneville argued that a psychiatrist should do this based on a medical examination. Binet and Simon wanted this to be based on objective evidence. This was the beginning of the IQ test. A preliminary version was published in 1905. The full version was published in 1908, and slightly revised in 1911, just before Binet's death.