Inner Presence

by Revonsuo, Antti

• ISBN13: 9780262513418
• ISBN10: 0262513412
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-09-30
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

The question of consciousness is perhaps the most significant problem still unsolved by science. In Inner Presence, Antti Revonsuo proposes a novel approach to the study of consciousness that integrates findings from philosophy, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience into a coherent theoretical framework. Arguing that any fruitful scientific approach to the problem must consider both the subjective psychological reality of consciousness and the objective neurobiological reality, Revonsuo proposes that the best strategy for discovering the connection between these two realities is one of "biological realism," using tools of the empirical biological sciences. This approach, which he calls the "biological research program," provides a theoretical and philosophical foundation that contemporary study of consciousness lacks. Revonsuo coins the term "world simulation metaphor" and uses this metaphor to develop a powerful way of thinking about consciousness as a biological system in the brain. This leads him to propose that the dreaming brain and visual consciousness are ideal model systems for empirical consciousness research. He offers a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of consciousness research and defends his approach against currently popular philosophical views, in particular against approaches that deny or externalize phenomenal consciousness, or claim that brain activity is not sufficient for consciousness. He systematically examines the principal issues in the science of consciousness-the contents of consciousness, the unity of consciousness and the binding problem, the explanatory gap and the neural correlates of consciousness, and the causal powers and function of consciousness. Revonsuo draws together empirical data from a wide variety of sources, including dream research, brain imaging, neuropsychology, and evolutionary psychology, into the theoretical framework of the biological research program, thus pointing the way toward a unified biological science of consciousness. Applying imaginative thought experiments, Inner Presencereaches beyond the current state-of-the-art, revealing how the problem of consciousness may eventually be solved by future science.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Prologue: The Most Fundamental Question	p. xv
Theoretical Foundations Of The Research Program
Consciousness as a Biological Phenomenon	p. 3
A Conceptual Map of the Territory	p. 29
The Dreaming Brain: A Model System for the Science and Philosophy of Consciousness
The Dreaming Brain as a Model System	p. 73
The Dreaming Brain and the Location of Consciousness	p. 85
Metaphors of Consciousness	p. 99
The World-Simulation Metaphor of Consciousness	p. 109
The Philosophy of Virtual Presence	p. 121
Paths Not Taken: Contemporary Alternatives to Biological Realism	p. 137
The Phenomenal Level
The Virtual Space around Us	p. 165
The Phenomenal Contents of Consciousness	p. 181
Binding and the Phenomenal Unity of Consciousness
The Binding Problem and the Unity of Consciousness	p. 199
Binding and Phenomenal Disunity I: What Visual Disorders Tell about Consciousness	p. 207
Binding and Phenomenal Disunity II: Objects and Space	p. 227
Binding in Dreams	p. 239
Cognitive Mechanisms of Phenomenal Unity	p. 255
Neural Mechanisms of Binding	p. 269
A Bridge Across the Explanatory Gap
The Explanatory Gap	p. 285
Beyond the Neural Correlates of Consciousness	p. 293
Closing in on the Mechanisms of Consciousness	p. 305
The Methods of Neuroscience in the Search for Consciousness	p. 321
The Future Explanation of Consciousness	p. 339
The Function and Causal Powers of Consciousness
Zombies in the Brain: Information That Bypasses Consciousness	p. 367
Zombies and Automatic Behavior	p. 383
The Biological Function of Dreaming	p. 401
Notes	p. 429
References	p. 441
Author Index	p. 459
Subject Index	p. 465
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