Consciousness Philosophical, Psychological, and Neural Theories

Consciousness is a state of being aware - of our self, of our surroundings, of our place in those surroundings. Yet what makes us conscious? What neural processes drive our awareness, and how do these processes relate to what we think of as our mind? Consciousness: Philosophical, Psychological, and Neural Theories seeks to respond to some of these questions, offering a wealth of information from which the reader can develop their own views of the subject. Taking a critical, thought-provoking approach, the book integrates studies from philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience to capture the major themes on which our current understanding of consciousness is based. Opening with a series of chapters that introduce us to thinking about mind, the book goes on to explore function and brain, examining such topics as functionalism, representation, and brain dynamics. Understanding consciousness remains one of today's greatest challenges. Consciousness: Philosophical, Psychological, and Neural Theories demystifies what is known about the interface of brain and mind, and offers intriguing insights into what remains to be discovered. Online Resource Centre The Online Resource Centre features figures from the book available to download to facilitate lecture preparation.

1 - Philosophical approaches
2 - The history of the mind-body problem
3 - The philosophy of neuroscience: neuronal behaviourism
4 - Recent advances in functionalism I. Homuncular functionalism
5 - Recent advances in functionalism II. Teleological functionalism
6 - Representation: the physical basis of mental content
7 - Conscious and unconscious representations
8 - Brain dynamics, attention and movement
9 - Memory in perception
10 - The where and when of visual experience
11 - Multiple types of consciousness
12 - Conclusion

David Rose is a Reader in Psychology at the University of Surrey, where he has 25 years teaching experience in physiological psychology, neuroscience, neuroanatomy, perception, cognitive psychology, philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, statistics, and consciousness at all undergraduate and postgraduate levels, to students of psychology, human biology, medicine, nursing, and psychiatry. He holds degrees in psychology (BSc Bristol, 1971), neurophysiology (PhD Cambridge, 1978), and the history and philosophy of science (MPhil Cambridge, 1997). He has researched mainly on the neurophysiology, pharmacology, psychophysics and philosophy of vision, and also on time perception, memory, and hemisphere differences. David is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Intelligent Systems.