There was once a strange tint to the philosophizing of some modern biologists and philosophers working in that field. They set up unidirectional structures of control from DNA to soma and from brain to physical limbs while also setting up one way flows of perception, including that of pain, from physical limbs to brain. The result was a dualism in which some forms of matter became embodiments of what might be called ‘software’ or ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’ as you will. That is, matter organized in the magical way to control lesser sorts of matter could send out detailed commands while remaining surprisingly unaffected by that which is controlled. All matter is equal but some matter is more equal than other matter.
When the Human Genome Project was completed, the researchers found that the number of active genes in the human body is about the same as the number in the body of a worm. Clearly, there is something activating and deactivating the huge number of genes in the human genome. Suddenly, DNA was a part, maybe an aspect, of an organism which had other parts which interacted with that genetic stuff, calling upon it to provide, say, directions for producing the hormones to prepare the placenta of a woman for possible pregnancy. In fact, many clearheaded scientists had realized DNA and the brain are parts of very complex organisms. For example, see Simon LeVay’s The Sexual Brain for a discussion of the role the brain plays in sexuality, focusing upon that all important part of human sexuality: the menstrual cycle. The brain is the dominant organ as Professor LeVay tells the story but it’s most certainly not a Master dictating to powerless slaves.
So far as I can tell, popular writers and followers of science are more aware of the importance of the organ as a whole. This study, Pain Is Not A Symptom Of Arthritis, Pain Causes Arthritis, Study Shows, tells us:
Pain is more than a symptom of osteoarthritis, it is an inherent and damaging part of the disease itself, according to a study just published in journal Arthritis and Rheumatism. More specifically, the study revealed that pain signals originating in arthritic joints, and the biochemical processing of those signals as they reach the spinal cord, worsen and expand arthritis.
Mental and emotional events, such as the pain associated with nerve irritation or flesh damage, are part of a chain of events which can directly affect our physical stuff in ways which can be studied by science. The burden of proof is upon those who claim that these mental events, often called qualia, are separate from the corresponding physical events. The economical viewpoint would seem to be that the nerve-cell events and the corresponding mental events and any corresponding events in joints or lungs are separate in a qualified way but ultimately part of a whole which has properties not found in the pieces.
The imaginary barriers which divide the human organism are falling. The most important lesson we can learn is that the human being is an organism which has properties not to be found by simply assembling each of its parts seen as separate entities. A second lesson we can learn is that those parts are separate in only a very qualified way. See A Universe is More than it Contains for a short discussion in the same spirit.