Consciousness Explained

Consciousness Explained

Author: Daniel C. Dennett

Publisher: Little, Brown

Published: 2017-02-07

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 0316439487

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"Brilliant...as audacious as its title....Mr. Dennett's exposition is nothing short of brilliant." --George Johnson, New York Times Book Review Consciousness Explained is a a full-scale exploration of human consciousness. In this landmark book, Daniel Dennett refutes the traditional, commonsense theory of consciousness and presents a new model, based on a wealth of information from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence. Our current theories about conscious life-of people, animal, even robots--are transformed by the new perspectives found in this book.


Book Synopsis Consciousness Explained by : Daniel C. Dennett

Download or read book Consciousness Explained written by Daniel C. Dennett and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Brilliant...as audacious as its title....Mr. Dennett's exposition is nothing short of brilliant." --George Johnson, New York Times Book Review Consciousness Explained is a a full-scale exploration of human consciousness. In this landmark book, Daniel Dennett refutes the traditional, commonsense theory of consciousness and presents a new model, based on a wealth of information from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence. Our current theories about conscious life-of people, animal, even robots--are transformed by the new perspectives found in this book.


Consciousness and Moral Status

Consciousness and Moral Status

Author: Joshua Shepherd

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-05-23

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 1315396327

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It seems obvious that phenomenally conscious experience is something of great value, and that this value maps onto a range of important ethical issues. For example, claims about the value of life for those in Permanent Vegetative State (PVS); debates about treatment and study of disorders of consciousness; controversies about end-of-life care for those with advanced dementia; and arguments about the moral status of embryos, fetuses, and non-human animals arguably turn on the moral significance of various facts about consciousness. However, though work has been done on the moral significance of elements of consciousness, such as pain and pleasure, little explicit attention has been devoted to the ethical significance of consciousness. In this book Joshua Shepherd presents a systematic account of the value present within conscious experience. This account emphasizes not only the nature of consciousness, but also the importance of items within experience such as affect, valence, and the complex overall shape of particular valuable experiences. Shepherd also relates this account to difficult cases involving non-humans and humans with disorders of consciousness, arguing that the value of consciousness influences and partially explains the degree of moral status a being possesses, without fully determining it. The upshot is a deeper understanding of both the moral importance of phenomenal consciousness and its relations to moral status. This book will be of great interest to philosophers and students of ethics, bioethics, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science.


Book Synopsis Consciousness and Moral Status by : Joshua Shepherd

Download or read book Consciousness and Moral Status written by Joshua Shepherd and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-05-23 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It seems obvious that phenomenally conscious experience is something of great value, and that this value maps onto a range of important ethical issues. For example, claims about the value of life for those in Permanent Vegetative State (PVS); debates about treatment and study of disorders of consciousness; controversies about end-of-life care for those with advanced dementia; and arguments about the moral status of embryos, fetuses, and non-human animals arguably turn on the moral significance of various facts about consciousness. However, though work has been done on the moral significance of elements of consciousness, such as pain and pleasure, little explicit attention has been devoted to the ethical significance of consciousness. In this book Joshua Shepherd presents a systematic account of the value present within conscious experience. This account emphasizes not only the nature of consciousness, but also the importance of items within experience such as affect, valence, and the complex overall shape of particular valuable experiences. Shepherd also relates this account to difficult cases involving non-humans and humans with disorders of consciousness, arguing that the value of consciousness influences and partially explains the degree of moral status a being possesses, without fully determining it. The upshot is a deeper understanding of both the moral importance of phenomenal consciousness and its relations to moral status. This book will be of great interest to philosophers and students of ethics, bioethics, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science.


The Consciousness’ Drive

The Consciousness’ Drive

Author: Charles Cole

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-09-18

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 3319924575

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What is the uniquely human factor in finding and using information to produce new knowledge? Is there an underlying aspect of our thinking that cannot be imitated by the AI-equipped machines that will increasingly dominate our lives? This book answers these questions, and tells us about our consciousness – its drive or intention in seeking information in the world around us, and how we are able to construct new knowledge from this information. The book is divided into three parts, each with an introduction and a conclusion that relate the theories and models presented to the real-world experience of someone using a search engine. First, Part I defines the exceptionality of human consciousness and its need for new information and how, uniquely among all other species, we frame our interactions with the world. Part II then investigates the problem of finding our real information need during information searches, and how our exceptional ability to frame our interactions with the world blocks us from finding the information we really need. Lastly, Part III details the solution to this framing problem and its operational implications for search engine design for everyone whose objective is the production of new knowledge. In this book, Charles Cole deliberately writes in a conversational style for a broader readership, keeping references to research material to the bare minimum. Replicating the structure of a detective novel, he builds his arguments towards a climax at the end of the book. For our video-game, video-on-demand times, he has visualized the ideas that form the book’s thesis in over 90 original diagrams. And above all, he establishes a link between information need and knowledge production in evolutionary psychology, and thus bases his arguments in our origins as a species: how we humans naturally think, and how we naturally search for new information because our consciousness drives us to need it.


Book Synopsis The Consciousness’ Drive by : Charles Cole

Download or read book The Consciousness’ Drive written by Charles Cole and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the uniquely human factor in finding and using information to produce new knowledge? Is there an underlying aspect of our thinking that cannot be imitated by the AI-equipped machines that will increasingly dominate our lives? This book answers these questions, and tells us about our consciousness – its drive or intention in seeking information in the world around us, and how we are able to construct new knowledge from this information. The book is divided into three parts, each with an introduction and a conclusion that relate the theories and models presented to the real-world experience of someone using a search engine. First, Part I defines the exceptionality of human consciousness and its need for new information and how, uniquely among all other species, we frame our interactions with the world. Part II then investigates the problem of finding our real information need during information searches, and how our exceptional ability to frame our interactions with the world blocks us from finding the information we really need. Lastly, Part III details the solution to this framing problem and its operational implications for search engine design for everyone whose objective is the production of new knowledge. In this book, Charles Cole deliberately writes in a conversational style for a broader readership, keeping references to research material to the bare minimum. Replicating the structure of a detective novel, he builds his arguments towards a climax at the end of the book. For our video-game, video-on-demand times, he has visualized the ideas that form the book’s thesis in over 90 original diagrams. And above all, he establishes a link between information need and knowledge production in evolutionary psychology, and thus bases his arguments in our origins as a species: how we humans naturally think, and how we naturally search for new information because our consciousness drives us to need it.


God Consciousness

God Consciousness

Author: Robert M Haralick

Publisher: Torah Books

Published: 2014-08-01

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9780972227346

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There are a variety of signposts that are associated with living purposefully. They include spending productive time on activities that matter the most and living through those activities with authenticity and passion. People living purposefully feel content and have an inner peace. The way they live not only makes a difference for themselves, but it makes a meaningful difference for the others in their circle. They live in the moment, in the eternal present. They are ethical and they meet all their commitments. They live life with intention. They live honestly, decently, joyfully, and authentically. They carry out what they hold to be their calling in life. They find meaning, purpose and significance in the ordinary everyday activities: eating, reading, working, and loving. God Consciousness: Living With Meaning and Purpose describes how we can live with greater meaning and purpose by increasing our consciousness of the presence of God in our everyday activities. Our behavior becomes kinder, gentler, and more virtuous. Internally we are happy and uplifted. We live in two realities physical reality and spiritual reality. Different people who are in the same physical reality will sense the same external reality. But they may interpret it or receive it in different ways and thereby create different spiritual realities. In each moment, physical reality is the question God asks us. Spiritual reality is our answer. The carriers of the answer are our internal feelings and our external actions. The content of the answer is in the intention behind the action. The whole constitutes a song with two parts. In one part, God calls forth and asks: Am I here? The teachings in this book help us see the Holiness of God in all that we encounter so that we can answer I recognize You, You are here. With God Consciousness, we are able to be centered and sensitive, think clearly, and have a balanced excellence in our thoughts, speech, and action that moves us toward more virtuous behavior. Therefore we live with greater meaning and purpose.


Book Synopsis God Consciousness by : Robert M Haralick

Download or read book God Consciousness written by Robert M Haralick and published by Torah Books. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are a variety of signposts that are associated with living purposefully. They include spending productive time on activities that matter the most and living through those activities with authenticity and passion. People living purposefully feel content and have an inner peace. The way they live not only makes a difference for themselves, but it makes a meaningful difference for the others in their circle. They live in the moment, in the eternal present. They are ethical and they meet all their commitments. They live life with intention. They live honestly, decently, joyfully, and authentically. They carry out what they hold to be their calling in life. They find meaning, purpose and significance in the ordinary everyday activities: eating, reading, working, and loving. God Consciousness: Living With Meaning and Purpose describes how we can live with greater meaning and purpose by increasing our consciousness of the presence of God in our everyday activities. Our behavior becomes kinder, gentler, and more virtuous. Internally we are happy and uplifted. We live in two realities physical reality and spiritual reality. Different people who are in the same physical reality will sense the same external reality. But they may interpret it or receive it in different ways and thereby create different spiritual realities. In each moment, physical reality is the question God asks us. Spiritual reality is our answer. The carriers of the answer are our internal feelings and our external actions. The content of the answer is in the intention behind the action. The whole constitutes a song with two parts. In one part, God calls forth and asks: Am I here? The teachings in this book help us see the Holiness of God in all that we encounter so that we can answer I recognize You, You are here. With God Consciousness, we are able to be centered and sensitive, think clearly, and have a balanced excellence in our thoughts, speech, and action that moves us toward more virtuous behavior. Therefore we live with greater meaning and purpose.


Actual Consciousness

Actual Consciousness

Author: Ted Honderich

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 0198714386

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What is it for you to be conscious? There is no consensus in philosophy or science: it has remained a mystery. Ted Honderich develops a brand new theory of consciousness, according to which perceptual consciousness is external to the perceiver.


Book Synopsis Actual Consciousness by : Ted Honderich

Download or read book Actual Consciousness written by Ted Honderich and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is it for you to be conscious? There is no consensus in philosophy or science: it has remained a mystery. Ted Honderich develops a brand new theory of consciousness, according to which perceptual consciousness is external to the perceiver.


The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness

The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness

Author: Mark Solms

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2021-02-16

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 0393542025

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A revelatory new theory of consciousness that returns emotions to the center of mental life. For Mark Solms, one of the boldest thinkers in contemporary neuroscience, discovering how consciousness comes about has been a lifetime’s quest. Scientists consider it the "hard problem" because it seems an impossible task to understand why we feel a subjective sense of self and how it arises in the brain. Venturing into the elementary physics of life, Solms has now arrived at an astonishing answer. In The Hidden Spring, he brings forward his discovery in accessible language and graspable analogies. Solms is a frank and fearless guide on an extraordinary voyage from the dawn of neuropsychology and psychoanalysis to the cutting edge of contemporary neuroscience, adhering to the medically provable. But he goes beyond other neuroscientists by paying close attention to the subjective experiences of hundreds of neurological patients, many of whom he treated, whose uncanny conversations expose much about the brain’s obscure reaches. Most importantly, you will be able to recognize the workings of your own mind for what they really are, including every stray thought, pulse of emotion, and shift of attention. The Hidden Spring will profoundly alter your understanding of your own subjective experience.


Book Synopsis The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness by : Mark Solms

Download or read book The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness written by Mark Solms and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2021-02-16 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revelatory new theory of consciousness that returns emotions to the center of mental life. For Mark Solms, one of the boldest thinkers in contemporary neuroscience, discovering how consciousness comes about has been a lifetime’s quest. Scientists consider it the "hard problem" because it seems an impossible task to understand why we feel a subjective sense of self and how it arises in the brain. Venturing into the elementary physics of life, Solms has now arrived at an astonishing answer. In The Hidden Spring, he brings forward his discovery in accessible language and graspable analogies. Solms is a frank and fearless guide on an extraordinary voyage from the dawn of neuropsychology and psychoanalysis to the cutting edge of contemporary neuroscience, adhering to the medically provable. But he goes beyond other neuroscientists by paying close attention to the subjective experiences of hundreds of neurological patients, many of whom he treated, whose uncanny conversations expose much about the brain’s obscure reaches. Most importantly, you will be able to recognize the workings of your own mind for what they really are, including every stray thought, pulse of emotion, and shift of attention. The Hidden Spring will profoundly alter your understanding of your own subjective experience.


What is Consciousness?

What is Consciousness?

Author: Ervin Laszlo

Publisher: SelectBooks, Inc.

Published: 2016-06-14

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 159079348X

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What is consciousness? Conventional thinking tells us it is the images, sensations, thoughts, and feelings produced by the brain. When the neurons in the brain stop firing, consciousness ceases to be. But does it?


Book Synopsis What is Consciousness? by : Ervin Laszlo

Download or read book What is Consciousness? written by Ervin Laszlo and published by SelectBooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2016-06-14 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is consciousness? Conventional thinking tells us it is the images, sensations, thoughts, and feelings produced by the brain. When the neurons in the brain stop firing, consciousness ceases to be. But does it?


Consciousness and Meaning

Consciousness and Meaning

Author: Brian Loar

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 0199673357

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One of the most important problems of modern philosophy concerns the place of subjectivity in a purely physical universe. Brian Loar was a major contributor to the discussion of this problem for over four decades. This volume brings together his most important and influential essays in the philosophy of language and of mind.


Book Synopsis Consciousness and Meaning by : Brian Loar

Download or read book Consciousness and Meaning written by Brian Loar and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most important problems of modern philosophy concerns the place of subjectivity in a purely physical universe. Brian Loar was a major contributor to the discussion of this problem for over four decades. This volume brings together his most important and influential essays in the philosophy of language and of mind.


The Meaning of Consciousness

The Meaning of Consciousness

Author: Andrew Lohrey

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 9780472108213

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Advances a bold new theory of consciousness and meaning by means of subjective, holistic analysis


Book Synopsis The Meaning of Consciousness by : Andrew Lohrey

Download or read book The Meaning of Consciousness written by Andrew Lohrey and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advances a bold new theory of consciousness and meaning by means of subjective, holistic analysis


Matter and Consciousness

Matter and Consciousness

Author: Paul M. Churchland

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9780262530743

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In "Matter and Consciousness," Paul Churchland clearly presents the advantages and disadvantages of such difficult issues in philosophy of mind as behaviorism, reductive materialism, functionalism, and eliminative materialism. This new edition incorporates the striking developments that have taken place in neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence and notes their expanding relevance to philosophical issues. Churchland organizes and clarifies the new theoretical and experimental results of the natural sciences for a wider philosophical audience, observing that this research bears directly on questions concerning the basic elements of cognitive activity and their implementation in real physical systems. (How is it, he asks, that living creatures perform some cognitive tasks so swiftly and easily, where computers do them only badly or not at all?) Most significant for philosophy, Churchland asserts, is the support these results tend to give to the reductive and the eliminative versions of materialism. "A Bradford Book"


Book Synopsis Matter and Consciousness by : Paul M. Churchland

Download or read book Matter and Consciousness written by Paul M. Churchland and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In "Matter and Consciousness," Paul Churchland clearly presents the advantages and disadvantages of such difficult issues in philosophy of mind as behaviorism, reductive materialism, functionalism, and eliminative materialism. This new edition incorporates the striking developments that have taken place in neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence and notes their expanding relevance to philosophical issues. Churchland organizes and clarifies the new theoretical and experimental results of the natural sciences for a wider philosophical audience, observing that this research bears directly on questions concerning the basic elements of cognitive activity and their implementation in real physical systems. (How is it, he asks, that living creatures perform some cognitive tasks so swiftly and easily, where computers do them only badly or not at all?) Most significant for philosophy, Churchland asserts, is the support these results tend to give to the reductive and the eliminative versions of materialism. "A Bradford Book"