Shorter Edward
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Neuropsychopharmacol Hung. 2007 Mar;9(1):31-3.
About 50 years of demolition work, it's time now for a return to the grand syntheses. Two of the great syntheses of the 19th century have now been shattered. Marxism lies in fragments. And psychoanalysis has largely drifted outside of psychiatry to find a new and doubtless temporary home in departments of literary studies. To be sure, the third of the great syntheses, Darwin's theory of evolution, remains intact. But otherwise, as far as the eye can see, there is rubble. The time for new attempts at synthesis is now nigh. After decades of pioneering work in the neurosciences, the fundamental importance of brain biology in the human condition has now become evident. Surely one of the new syntheses will draw upon neurochemistry and neurophysiology, and it is to the great credit of the Hungarian neurosciences that pharmacologist Joseph Knoll has now ventured a first attempt. This attempt will be widely discussed and will form the platform for other work that may end up building firm bridges between "neuroenhancers" and behavior - and, what's more, to show how this relationship has shaped the evolution of thousands of years of human destiny, a great synthesis indeed.
历经约50年的拆解工作，如今是时候回归宏大的综合了。19世纪的两大综合现已支离破碎。马克思主义已成碎片。精神分析学在很大程度上已脱离精神病学领域，在文学研究系找到了一个新的、无疑只是暂时的归宿。诚然，第三大综合，即达尔文的进化论，依然完整。但除此之外，放眼望去，尽是废墟。开展新的综合尝试的时机已近在眼前。经过神经科学领域数十年的开创性工作，大脑生物学在人类状况中的根本重要性现已显现。新的综合之一肯定会借鉴神经化学和神经生理学，匈牙利神经科学家的功绩卓著，药理学家约瑟夫·诺尔现已率先进行了尝试。这一尝试将得到广泛讨论，并将为其他工作搭建平台，这些工作最终可能在“神经增强剂”与行为之间架起坚实的桥梁——而且，更重要的是，展示这种关系如何塑造了数千年人类命运的演变，这确实是一次伟大的综合。
