Problems of Life and Mind was published by Trübner & Co. in five volumes between 1874 and 1879 (the last two volumes were edited posthumously by George Eliot after Lewes’s death in 1878). It is Lewes’s most ambitious work — an attempt to establish the foundations of psychology as a rigorous science, distinct from both metaphysical philosophy and mere physiology.
Lewes’s central argument is that mental life cannot be understood either as pure thought (the idealist tradition) or as mere brain activity (the materialist tradition): it is social as well as biological, historical as well as physiological. Consciousness is shaped by language, culture, and social interaction as much as by neurons and synapses — a position that anticipates much of twentieth-century psychology and philosophy of mind.
The first series, “The Foundations of a Creed,” examines the epistemological and metaphysical questions that any psychology must address: what is knowledge? what is the relationship between mind and body? how do we distinguish science from speculation? The second series, “The Physical Basis of Mind,” examines the neurological substrate of consciousness. The third series, “Mind as a Function of the Organism,” was left incomplete at Lewes’s death.
George Eliot’s role in preparing the posthumous volumes is itself significant: she had discussed every aspect of the work with Lewes over many years, and her editing was more than mechanical — she made substantive decisions about organization and emphasis that shaped the final form of the text.
Collecting Problems of Life and Mind
First edition (Trübner & Co., London, 1874–1879): Five volumes, cloth bindings.
Market values:
- Complete set of five volumes: $150–$400
- Individual volumes: $20–$60