William James (1842–1910), the eminent American psychologist, was also a licensed medical doctor. He believed that psychology was “ante-science,” meaning that it must ultimately lead to its observations being verifiable by science. The significance of this insight cannot be exaggerated: Observational psychology must be accurately and honestly recorded, without bias or personal preference. This is the scientific method. Such is, then, the stated aim of this book’s author: “As scientists, however, we must step back from our first-person involvement. We must get a fix on what sensations are objectively about. I’ll return to this over and over again as we go forward” (p. 2).
But here is an inherent conflict: If sensations are personal and subjective, their reporting is also personal and subjective; how do you “step back from our first-person involvement”? Sadly, what the author has done is not to step back at all, but fully demonstrate, via his...