A Sex-Specific Theory of Consciousness

According to your book reviewer Lee Dembart (March 6), in “The Remembered Present: A Biological Theory of Consciousness,” Gerald M. Edelman suggests that consciousness “may be seen as the haughty and restless second cousin of morphology,” with memory “its mistress, perception its somewhat abused wife, logic its housekeeper, and language its poorly paid secretary.”

But why should we think of human consciousness as male, and all its supporting functions as female? Perhaps even this Nobel laureate needs his consciousness raised about inappropriate gender-specific language.

MARTHA S. VOGELER, Professor of English, Cal State Fullerton