Consciousness
is widely viewed as the last frontier of science.
Modern science may have split the atom and
solved the mystery of life, but it has yet
to explain the source of conscious feelings.
Eminent thinkers from many areas of science
are turning to this problem, and a wide range
of theories are currently on offer. Yet sceptics
doubt whether consciousness can be tamed by
conventional scientific techniques, and others
wonder whether its mysteries can be understood
at all.
Introducing
Consciousness provides a comprehensive guide
to the current state of consciousness studies.
It starts with the “hard problem”
of the philosophical relation between mind
and matter, explains the historical origins
of this problem, and traces scientific attempts
to explain consciousness in terms of neural
mechanisms, cerebral computation and quantum
mechanics. Along the way, readers will be
introduced to zombies and Chinese Rooms, ghosts
in machines and Schrödinger’s cat.
This is the perfect introduction for anybody
who wants to know all about consciousness
but doesn’t know where to start.
***
David
Papineau is Professor of Philosophy at King’s
College London and has lectured at Reading,
Birkbeck, Macquarie (Sydney) and Cambridge.
Howard
Selina studied painting at St Martin’s
School of Art and the Royal Academy in London,
where he now lives and works. He has also
illustrated Introducing titles on Heidegger
and evolution.
