Epiphenomenal Mind

Epiphenomenal Mind
Author: William S. Robinson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2018-10-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0429787707

According to epiphenomenalism, our behavior is caused by events in our brains that also cause our mentality. This resulting mentality reflects our brains’ organization, but does not in turn cause anything. This book defends an epiphenomenalist account of philosophy of mind. It builds on the author’s previous work by moving beyond a discussion of sensations to apply an epiphenomenalist outlook to other aspects of mental causation such as beliefs, desires, pleasure, and displeasure. The first four chapters of the book argue for a dualistic theory of sensations and develop an epiphenomenalist version of dualism. The remaining chapters discuss propositional attitudes and valence. The author also responds to potential objections to epiphenomenalism by considering how sensations, intelligence, or understanding might be built into a robot. This book will be of interest to scholars and students in philosophy of mind who are interested in consciousness, mental causation, and how our mentality is situated in the world.

The Conscious Mind

The Conscious Mind
Author: David J. Chalmers
Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks
Total Pages: 436
Release: 1997
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780195117899

Writing in a rigorous, thought-provoking style, the author takes us on a far-reaching tour through the philosophical ramifications of consciousness, offering provocative insights into the relationship between mind and brain.

Supervenience and Mind

Supervenience and Mind
Author: Jaegwon Kim
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 404
Release: 1993-11-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521439961

This collection of essays presents the core of the work of influential philosopher Jaegwon Kim.

Quantum Information and Consciousness

Quantum Information and Consciousness
Author: Danko D. Georgiev
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2017-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1351401777

"I loved the book! This book is not just interesting, it is exciting. I have probably read every significant book in the field, and this is the strongest and most convincing one yet. It is also one of the most comprehensive in its explanations. I shall most certainly recommend the book to colleagues." –Richard G. Petty, MD "a very good introduction to the basic theory of quantum systems.... Dr. Georgiev’s book aptly prepares the reader to confront whatever might be in store later." –from the Foreword by Prof. James F. Glazebrook, Eastern Illinois University This book addresses the fascinating cross-disciplinary field of quantum information theory applied to the study of brain function. It offers a self-study guide to probe the problems of consciousness, including a concise but rigorous introduction to classical and quantum information theory, theoretical neuroscience, and philosophy of the mind. It aims to address long-standing problems related to consciousness within the framework of modern theoretical physics in a comprehensible manner that elucidates the nature of the mind-body relationship. The reader also gains an overview of methods for constructing and testing quantum informational theories of consciousness.

Consciousness Evolving

Consciousness Evolving
Author: James H. Fetzer
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2002-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9789027251541

A collection of stimulating studies on the past, the present, and the future of consciousness, Consciousness Evolving contributes to understanding some of the most important conceptual problems of our time. The advent of the modern synthesis together with the human genome project affords a platform for considering what it is that makes humans distinctive. Beginning with an essay that accents the nature of the problem within a behavioristic framework and concluding with reflections on the prospects for a form of immortality through serial cloning, the chapters are divided into three sections, which concern how and why consciousness may have evolved, special capacities involving language, creativity, and mentality as candidates for evolved adaptations, and the prospects for artificial evolution though the design of robots with specific forms of consciousness and mind. This volume should appeal to every reader who wants to better understand the human species, including its distinctive properties and its place in nature. (Series A)

Philosophy of Mind

Philosophy of Mind
Author: Ian Ravenscroft
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2005
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199252548

Designed specifically for students with no background knowledge in the subject, this accessible introduction covers all of the basic concepts and major theories in the philosophy of mind. Topics discussed include dualism, behaviorism, the identity theory, functionalism, the computational theory of mind, connectionism, physicalism, mental causation, and consciousness. The text is enhanced by chapter summaries, a glossary, suggestions for further reading, and self-assessment questions.

Life and Mind

Life and Mind
Author: José Manuel Viejo
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2023-06-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3031303040

This volume provides a broad overview of some cutting-edge philosophical topics of growing interest at the juncture between cognitive science and biology. The main goal is not to integrate the variety of approaches into a single account, but rather to offer diverse perspectives on a collection of selected biological issues of particular philosophical relevance, reflecting the plurality of current research in these areas. Four conceptual vectors give this volume its coherence: Animal and human cognition: With respect to animal cognition, this volume focuses on self-awareness and methodological flaws in the science of animal consciousness. Regarding human cognition, the authors of this volume address various aspects of so-called 4E cognition. Genetics: The role of genes in the development of mind and life has always been philosophically controversial. In this volume, the authors address the possibility of considering post-genomic genes as natural kinds and the proper analysis of the concept of genotype. Teleology: This volume addresses issues of evolutionary causality and teleosemantics, as well as questions relating to biological teleology and regulation. Evolution: Evolution exemplifies better than any other concept the convergence point between philosophy, biology and cognitive sciences. Among other things, the volume deals with the origin of novelties in evolutionary processes from various viewpoints (e.g., cultural evolution and developmental plasticity). Despite their disparity, all these topics belong to a common naturalistic framework. By presenting them in a single volume, the editors want to emphasize the need to always conduct philosophical research on mind and life with tangential domains in mind. This book is a valuable resource for students and researchers of philosophy with a special interest in life, cognition, and evolution, as well as for biologists and cognitive scientists.

Consciousness

Consciousness
Author: Josh Weisberg
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2022-08-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1119669324

CONSCIOUSNESS Consciousness is a thought-provoking collection of classic and contemporary philosophical literature on consciousness, bringing together influential scholarship by seminal thinkers and the work of emerging voices who reflect the diversity of the field. Editors Josh Weisberg and David Rosenthal have selected discussions that animate modern debates and connect consciousness to broader philosophical topics. Providing an expansive view of the philosophical landscape of consciousness studies, this carefully calibrated reader features classic work from the past four decades by seminal thinkers such as Thomas Nagel, David Lewis, Ned Block, Gilbert Harman, and Daniel Dennett, as well as important recent work from David Chalmers, Fiona Macperson, Joseph Levine, Kathleen Akins, and other contemporary philosophers. Divided into five parts, Consciousness explores the nature of consciousness, consciousness and knowledge, qualitative consciousness, and theories of consciousness. A final section on agency and physicalism includes work by Galen Strawson and a previously unpublished article by Myrto Mylopoulos. Philosophically challenging yet accessible to students, Consciousness is an ideal reader for many undergraduate and graduate courses on consciousness or philosophy of mind, as well as a useful supplementary text for general classes in philosophy and a valuable reference text for philosophers of mind, cognitive scientists, and psychologists.

Subjective Consciousness

Subjective Consciousness
Author: Uriah Kriegel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2009-08-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199570353

Uriah Kriegel develops an objective theory of what it is for a mental state to be conscious. The key idea is that consciousness arises when self-awareness and world-awareness are integrated in the right way. Conscious mental states differ from unconscious ones in that, whatever else they represent, they represent themselves in a very specific way.