Conversations on Consciousness What the Best Minds Think about the Brain, Free Will, and What It Means to Be Human

by Blackmore, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780195179590
• ISBN10: 0195179595
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In Conversations on Consciousness, Susan Blackmore interviews some of the great minds of our time, a who's who of eminent thinkers, all of whom have devoted much of their lives to understanding the concept of consciousness. The interviewees, ranging from major philosophers to renowned scientists, talk candidly with Blackmore about some of the key philosophical issues confronting us in a series of conversations that are revealing, insightful, and stimulating. They ruminate on the nature of consciousness (is it something apart from the brain?) and discuss if it is even possible to understand the human mind. Some of these thinkers say no, but most believe that we will pierce the mystery surrounding consciousness, and that neuroscience will provide the key. Blackmore goes beyond the issue of consciousness to ask other intriguing questions: Is there free will? (A question which yields many conflicted replies, with most saying yes and no.) If not, how does this effect the way you live your life; and more broadly, how has your work changed the way you live? Paired with an introduction and extensive glossary that provide helpful background information, these provocative conversations illuminate how some of the greatest minds tackle some of the most difficult questions about human nature.

Author Biography

Susan Blackmore is a freelance writer, lecturer and broadcaster, and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of the West of England, Bristol. Her research interests include memes and the theory of memetics, evolutionary theory, consciousness, and meditation. She is author of The Meme Machine, as well as over seventy academic articles.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Bernard Baars	p. 11
Ned Block	p. 24
David Chalmers	p. 36
Patricia and Paul Churchland	p. 50
Francis Crick	p. 68
Daniel Dennett	p. 79
Susan Greenfield	p. 92
Richard Gregory	p. 104
Stuart Hameroff	p. 115
Christof Koch	p. 125
Stephen LaBerge	p. 137
Thomas Metzinger	p. 149
Kevin O'Regan	p. 160
Roger Penrose	p. 173
Vilayanur Ramachandran	p. 186
John Searle	p. 198
Petra Stoerig	p. 213
Francisco Varela	p. 222
Max Velmans	p. 233
Daniel Wegner	p. 245
Glossary	p. 258
Index	p. 269
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