Philosophy, Neuroscience and ConsciousnessExplaining consciousness is one of the last great unanswered scientific and philosophical problems. Immediately known, familiar and obvious, consciousness is also baffling, opaque and strange. This introduction to the problems posed by consciousness discusses the most important work of cognitive science, neurophysiology and philosophy of mind of the past thirty years and presents an up to date assessment of the issues and debates. The reader is first introduced to the way that consciousness has been thought about in the history of philosophy and psychology. The author then presents an informal and largely non-technical account of the properties of consciousness that are thought to be the most paradigmatic and problematic. Recent scientific work on consciousness, from neurophysiological studies of the brain and evolutionary studies of the development of consciousness to computational theories of the mind are then examined and the philosophical problems that these accounts raise are systematically introduced. The final chapters of the book consider more practical matters by addressing self-deception, neuroses, the unconscious and notions of the self, before concluding with an assessment of the future for psychology and the philosophy of mind. |
Contents
Cortical Evolution and Modularity | |
Arousal Perception and Affect | |
Attention Working Memory Language and Executive Function | |
Neural Models of Conscious Properties | |
PHILOSOPHY NEUROSCIENCE AND CONSCIOUSNESS | |
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amygdala anomalous monism anterior cingulate cortex argument attention auditory basal behaviour brain Cambridge causal powers causes Chapter cingulate cortex claim complex composed conscious content conscious events conscious experience conscious processes conscious properties constitutive cortical regions distinct DLPFC emergent emergentism emotional entities explanatory gap externalist frontal heteromodal higher-order property human identify identity input insular cortex intentionality interoceptive kind lobe mechanism memory microphysical properties modalities multiple realization neural activity neural assembly activity neural correlates neural events neural pathways neural properties neural substrates neuroimaging neurons neuropsychological neuroscience neuroscientific olfactory orbitofrontal cortex overdetermination parietal cortex particular perceptual experience philosophical Physical events physical properties posterior prefrontal cortex primates problem properties of neural proprioceptive psychological event qualia qualitative character qualitative properties qualitatively endowed realizers of conscious representational representationalism representationalist semantic sensory structures subjective perspectivity subvening supervenience thalamus things total realizers unimodal University Press vehicle externalism ventral visual