Theo Todman's Book Collection (Book-Paper Abstracts)

BOOK ABSTRACT:

Inside Cover Blurb

1. What processes in the brain or the mind can explain the uniquely personal experience we have of smelling a rose, or feeling the pain of a toothache, or seeing the point of a New Yorker cartoon, or sensing a pang of post-modernist angst in the run up to the Millennium. The phenomenon of human higher-order consciousness has puzzled philosophers, naturalists, and theologians down the ages. Now, somewhat belatedly, consciousness has caught the interest of scientists, some of whom believe they are on the brink of discovering its basis in neurobiological processes.
2. This book, drawing together leading figures from the spheres of science and philosophy, is about the prospects of finding a scientific explanation of consciousness. And it is also about how our view of ourselves could be affected by such a scientific explanation. Until recently, the vast complexity of the brain had kept researchers from tackling the thorny topic of consciousness. But now, new imaging techniques arc revealing many of the brain’s mysteries to neuroscientists, while some researchers in the field of artificial intelligence¹ believe they will be able to replicate consciousness with silicon and circuitry. Meanwhile, philosophers continue to take issue with the methodology used by science to investigate this phenomenon, questioning whether a reductionist approach can really solve such an elusive and holistic relationship as that between mind and brain.
3. These are the issues that are debated in this book, in which exponents of each view have the opportunity to argue their case. The result is a collection that will both enlighten all those interested in the question of consciousness, and stimulate debate among those at the forefront of research in the many fields now investigating it.