The Nature of Consciousness: Philosophical Debates

Book Overview

Intended for anyone attempting to find their way through the large and confusingly interwoven philosophical literature on consciousness, this reader brings together most of the principal texts in philosophy (and a small set of related key works in neuropsychology) on consciousness through 1997, and includes some forthcoming articles. Its extensive coverage strikes a balance between seminal works of the past few decades and the leading edge of philosophical research on consciousness.As no other anthology currently does, The Nature of Consciousness provides a substantial introduction to the field, and imposes structure on a vast and complicated literature, with sections covering stream of consciousness, theoretical issues, consciousness and representation, the function of consciousness, subjectivity and the explanatory gap, the knowledge argument, qualia, and monitoring conceptions of consciousness. Of the 49 contributions, 18 are either new or have been adapted from a previous publication.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262522101
• ISBN13: 9780262522106
• Release Date: August 1997
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 885 Pages
• Weight: 3.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 7.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Most comprehesive book out there on the topic.

This book is easy to review, and a no-brainer for people interested on consicousness studies. It is quite simply the most complete anthology on the philosophy of consciousness out there. Papers from William James, to Dennett, Searle, Block, Naegel, and over 50 others. Qualia, explanatory gaps, zombies, inverted qualia, some scientific papers, one of the best intoductions to the field out there.....700+ pages of consciousness, consciousness, consciousness....this is essential reading, and having for anyopne interested in philosophy of mind, and scientists of mind too...the fastest way to familiarize with the vast literature on the subject. The table of contents is reason enough to buy this book, and I will not bore you with more.

Of course, this is a must for those studying cogsci

It's a thick book and has lots of stuffs in it. Nearly all of most important philosophical works on consciousness in recent years are brought together in this single volume. Naturally, this is a textbook for graduate-level courses in cognitive science or philosophy of mind. And makes a quite nice source book for those who want to further their studies in artifical intelligence.