An exciting and up-to-the-minute introduction to consciousness research and its applications to our waking and sleeping moments. Science now debates great consciousness puzzles such as chess-playing computers, dream states, and optical illusions. Opposing theorists ponder if a red sunset exists in the sky or in the head and why feelings affect thinking. Can objective science study subjective experience? Once philosophical, consciousness is now an exciting science. Author Anthony Freeman, managing editor of the Journal of Consciousness Studies, opens Consciousness with a history of mind study, and ends with a review of multidisciplinary cognitive science. Between, it's a wild ride of conflicting theories on the working of the brain and up-to-the-minute research. Seeing vs. believing, mind/body connections, zombies, and assembly line robots are just the beginning. Even chaos theory and quantum physics are relevant, with opposing approaches inciting disciplinary battles. This illustrated and accessible volume profiles key researchers like Wilder Penfield, who chatted with his conscious sister while removing a tumor from her brain.

For the last five years philosopher Galen Strawson has provoked a mixture of shock and scepticism with his carefully argued case that physicalism (the view that every real, concrete phenomenon in the universe is physical) entails panpsychism (the view that the existence of every real concrete thing involves experiential being). In this book Strawson provides the fullest and most careful statement of his position to date, throwing down the gauntlet to his critics - including Peter Carruthers, Frank Jackson, William Lycan, Colin McGinn, David Papineau, Georges Rey, David Rosenthal and J.J.C. Smart - by inviting them to respond in print. The book concludes with Strawson's response to his commentators.

This text is a radical representation of the Christian faith for the 21st century. Following the example of the Old Testament prophets and the first-century Christians it overturns received ideas about God. God is not an invisible person "out there" somewhere, but lives in the human heart and mind as "the sum of all our values and ideals" guiding and inspiring our lives.

Sets out philosopher, Ted Honderich's theory of consciousness as existence and his response to criticism from colleagues.

At the heart of the parapsychology (psi) battle are two types of phenomena: extra-sensory perception (ESP) and psycho-kinesis (PK). ESP is reception of information without any normal sensory means; PK is the use of the mind to influence physical states without any direct physical contact. Neither effect can be explained by ordinary science, so parapsychologists with experimental evidence that they are real are accused of bad science or bad faith or both. This collection of essays shows that a simple division into "sceptics" and "believers" cannot be made. The real struggle, for all researchers, is not with each other, but to get a secure hold on the subject itself. Contributing authors include Peter Brugger, Geoffrey Dean, Christopher French, Stanley Jeffers, Ivan Kelly, Fotini Pallikari, John Palmer, Adrian Parker, Chris Roe, Simon Sherwood, Stefan Schmidt, Kirsten Taylor and Harald Wallach.

Am I responsible for my actions? or is freewill an illusion? Many scientists and philosophers claim that everything, including our own actions, is pre-determined. If that is the case then no-one is responsible for their actions, so punishment could be considered an inappropriate response to crime. This text debates the viewpoints of both "sceptics" and "libertarians" looking at the evidence from science, psychology and philosophy. Contributors include: David Hodgson, Jaron Lanier, Thomas Clark and Wolfgang Schultz.

Has your brain ever frozen on the simplest of questions? Most people have experienced a momentary freeze when asked their birthday, age, or phone number. It is when you start having those freezes more frequently or you start forgetting more important things that you may begin to worry. You may start to buy memory improvement games rather than action games for the Wii. You may even spend some time reading this book, rather than a good thriller on the beach. This would be a good move, since this book is packed with information regarding memory improvement. From understanding what may be causing your memory problems to simple solutions to those problems, you will find it all right here. Anthony Freeman

This book is based on the personal experiences of a successful student and conversations with other top performers. Practical and effective strategies are covered throughout the book, helping students cope with the day to day rigors of high school as well as plan ahead effectively throughout the four years. Topics include classes, grades, test skills, extracurricular activities, competition, mindset, awards, essays, recommendation letters, interviews, and college applications. Top students will likely pick up helpful tips that enhance performance, and struggling students will get a comprehensive framework for succeeding in school and applying for college. Overall, readers will receive a solid understanding and practical tools to help them succeed in school and gain acceptance to a great college. About the author: Anthony earned a full merit scholarship to a private university (ranked in the top 100) after graduating from a fairly average public high school in Virginia. He graduated college with honors and without any debt. By writing this book, he hopes to help parents and students achieve their goals and maximize their potential.

How does the conscious mind relate to the physical body? Two common views from the past offered the stark choice between dualism - which said mind and body were quite separarte - and physicalism - which said the mind was in fact "nothing but" the physical brain. Both these views have been widely rejected. "Emergence " theory offers a compromise: the mind "emerges" from the physical body but the whole person, mind and body, is more than the sum of the physical parts. In collection of essays on the relation between the conscious mind and the body, philosopher Robert Van Gulick gives a clear overview and comparison on "emergent" and "reductive" approaches. Other contributors discuss more detailed aspects of the subject, while the editor argues for the radical proposal the even God is an "emergent property".

Rupert Sheldrake outraged the scientific establishment in the early 1980s with his hypothesis of morphic resonance, and his book A New Science of Life was denounced by the journal Nature as ?the best candidate for burning there has been for many years?. With his academic career torpedoed, Sheldrake has become the champion of ?the people's science?. Books such as Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home and The Sense of Being Stared At have won him popular acclaim and continued academic opprobrium in equal measure. In "Sheldrake and his Critics" (a special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies), Sheldrake summarizes his case for the ?non-visual detection of staring? and his claims are scrutinised by 14 distinguished researchers, to whose commentaries Sheldrake then responds. Anthony Freeman, in his editorial introduction, explores the concept of ?heresy? in science and in religion and asks why it provokes such hostility.