The mysteries of consciousness have gripped the human imagination for over 2500 years. At the dawn of the new millennium, this book provides solutions to some of the deepest puzzles surrounding its nature and function. Drawing on recent scientific discoveries, Max Velmans challenges conventional reductionist thought, providing an understanding of how consciousness relates to the brain and physical world that is neither dualist, nor reductionist. The book should be of interest to psychologists, philosophers, neuroscientists and other professionals concerned with mind/body relationships, and all who care about this subject.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Mind-Body Theories and Their Problems. What Is Consciousness? Is There a Conscious Soul in the Brain? Are Mind and Matter the Same Thing? Are Mind and Consciousness Just Activities? Could Robots Be Conscious? Part 2: A New Analysis: How to Marry Science with Experience. Conscious Phenomenology and Common Sense. Experiences Worlds, the World Described By Physics, and the Thing Itself. Subjective, Intersubjective, and Objective Science. Consciousness, Brains, and Human Information Processing. Part 3: A New Synthesis - Reflexive Monism. What Consciousness Is. What Consciousness Does. Self-consciousness In a Reflexive Universe. References. Index.

Author Biography

Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London & Visiting Professor of Consciousness Studies at the University of Plymouth