Understanding Consciousness

Abstract

The mysteries of consciousness have gripped the human imagination for over two thousand five hundred years. At the dawn of the new millennium, Understanding Consciousness provides new solution to some of the deepest puzzles surrounding its nature and function. Understanding Consciousness provides a unique survey and evaluation of consciousness studies, along with an original analysis of consciousness that combines scientific findings, philosophy and common sense. The book is divided into three parts; Part one surveys current theories of consciousness, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. Part two reconstructs an understanding of consciousness from first principles, starting with its phenomenology, and leading to a closer examination of how conscious experience relates to the world described by physics and information processing in the brain. Finally, Part three deals with some of the fundamental issues such as what consciousness is and does, and how it fits into to the evolving universe. As the structure of the book moves from a basic overview of the field to a successively deeper analysis, it can be used both for those new to the subject and for more established researchers. \n \nDrawing on recent scientific discoveries, Max Velmans challenges conventional reductionist thought, providing an understanding of consciousness that is neither dualist nor reductionist. Understanding Consciousness will be of great interest to psychologists, philosophers, neuroscientists and other professionals concerned with mind-body relationships, and all who care deeply about this subject.

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