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What are the materials of conscious perceptual experience? What is going on when we are consciously aware of a visual scene, or hear sounds, or otherwise enjoy sensory experience? In this book David Papineau exposes the flaws in contemporary answers to this central philosophical question and defends a new alternative. Contemporary theories of perceptual experience all hold that conscious experiences reach out into the world beyond the mind. According to naive realism, experiences literally incorporate perceived facts, while representationalism holds that experiences contain ordinary properties of the kind possessed by physical objects. These ideas might seem attractive at first sight, however Papineau shows that they do not stand up to examination. Instead, he argues for a purely qualitative account of sensory experience. Conscious sensory experiences are intrinsic states with no essential connection to external circumstances or represented properties. This might run counter to initial intuition, yet Papineau develops this qualitative theory in detail and illustrates how it can accommodate the rich structure of sensory experience. Papineau's qualitative account has respectable antecedents in the history of philosophy. By placing the qualitative theory on a firm footing, he shows that those curious about experience need not be restricted to the options in contemporary philosophical discourse.
'An excellent book' - Ted Honderich, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University College London (UCL) Introducing Consciousness provides a comprehensive guide to the current state of consciousness studies. It starts with the history of the philosophical relation between mind and matter, and proceeds to 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 Erwin Schrodinger's cat.
This book is designed to explain the technical ideas that are taken
for granted in much contemporary philosophical writing. Notions
like "denumerability," "modal scope distinction," "Bayesian
conditionalization," and "logical completeness" are usually only
elucidated deep within difficult specialist texts. By offering
simple explanations that by-pass much irrelevant and boring detail,
Philosophical Devices is able to cover a wealth of material that is
normally only available to specialists.
This book is designed to explain the technical ideas that are taken
for granted in much contemporary philosophical writing. Notions
like "denumerability," "modal scope distinction," "Bayesian
conditionalization," and "logical completeness" are usually only
elucidated deep within difficult specialist texts. By offering
simple explanations that by-pass much irrelevant and boring detail,
Philosophical Devices is able to cover a wealth of material that is
normally only available to specialists.
Teleosemantics seeks to explain meaning and other intentional phenomena in terms of their function in the life of the species. This volume of new essays from an impressive line-up of well-known contributors offers a valuable summary of the current state of the teleosemantics debate.
The relation between subjective consciousness and the physical brain is widely regarded as the last mystery facing science. David Papineau argues that there is no real puzzle here. Consciousness seems mysterious, not because of any hidden essence, but only because we think about it in a special way. Papineau exposes the confusion, and dispels the mystery: we see consciousness in its place in the material world, and we are on the way to a proper understanding of the mind.
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.
Using graphic novel-style illustration combined with accessible but authoritative text, the Introducing Graphic Guide series is a uniquely brilliant way to get your head around some of humankind's most thrilling ideas. Introducing Consciousness: What have zombies, Chinese Rooms, ghosts in machines and Schrodinger's cat go to do with consciousness? Modern science may have split the atom and solved the mystery of life, but it has yet to explain the source of conscious feelings. Introducing Psychoanalysis offers new insights into the nature of psychoanalytic theory and original ways of describing therapeutic practice. How do psychoanalysts conceptualize the mind? Why was Freud so interested in sex? Is psychoanalysis a science? How does analysis work? Introducing Psychology: A fascinating guide to the whole subject of psychology - an ideal introduction for anyone interested in why we do what we do and think what we think. What is psychology? When did it begin? Where did it come from? How does psychology compare with psychiatry and psychotherapy? Is it scientific?
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