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Books > Health, Home & Family > Mind, body & spirit > Mind, body, spirit: thought & practice > Mysticism & self-awareness
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Thinking about Consciousness (Paperback, New Ed)
Loot Price: R2,001
Discovery Miles 20 010
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Thinking about Consciousness (Paperback, New Ed)
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Consciousness is widely regarded as an intractable mystery. Many
scientists and philosophers view it as an enigma whose solution
waits on some unforeseeable theoretical breakthrough. David
Papineau argues that this pessimism is quite misplaced.
Consciousness seems mysterious, not because of any hidden essence,
but only because we humans think about it in a special way.
Thinking about Consciousness analyses this special mode of thought
in detail, and exposes the ways in which it can lead us into
confusions about consciousness. At the heart of the book lies a
distinction between two ways of thinking about conscious states. We
humans can think about conscious states materially, as normal items
inhabiting the material world. But we can also think about them
phenomenally, as items that feel a certain way. Dualists hold that
this phenomenal mode of thought describes some special non-material
reality. But David Papineau argues that it is invalid to move from
a distinctive phenomenal mode of thought to a distinct non-material
reality. By carefully analysing the structure of phenomenal
concepts, he is able to expose the flaws in the standard arguments
for dualism, while at the same time explaining why dualism can seem
so intuitively compelling. Thinking about Consciousness also casts
a new light on contemporary scientific research into consciousness.
Much of this research is motivated by the apparently 'hard problem'
of identifying the referents of phenomenal concepts. David Papineau
argues that such research promises less than it can deliver. Once
phenomenal concepts are recognised for what they are, many of the
questions posed by consciousness research turn out to be
irredeemably vague. This is the first book to provide a detailed
analysis of phenomenal concepts from a materialist point of view.
By recognising the importance of phenomenal thinking, David
Papineau is able to place a materialist account of consciousness on
a firm foundation, and to lay many traditional problems of
consciousness to rest.
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