Philosophy of mind Books

Book SynopsisThis book examines what seems to be the basic challenge in neuroscience today: understanding how experience generated by the human brain is related to the physical world we live in. The 25 short chapters present the argument and evidence that brains address this problem on a wholly trial and error basis. The goal is to encourage neuroscientists, computer scientists, philosophers, and other interested readers to consider this concept of neural function and its implications, not least of which is the conclusion that brains don’t “compute.”Trade Review“I highly recommend this volume for behavioral, cognitive, and evolutionary neuroscientists.” (Paul Tibbetts, The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 97 (2), June, 2022)Table of ContentsPreface PART I. TWO REALITIES Chapter 1. Solving Problems Chapter 2. Objective and Subjective Reality PART II. Computation Chapter 3. Algorithms Chapter 4. Coding for Computers PART III. ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS Chapter 5. Neural Networks Chapter 6. The Resurrection of Neural Networks Chapter 7. Reinforcement Learning Part IV. perception Chapter 8. What We Perceive Chapter 9. Lines and Intervals Chapter 10. Angles Chapter 11. Lightness and Darkness Chapter 12. Empirical Ranking Chapter 13. Color Chapter 14. Colorimetry Chapter 15. Motion Speed Chapter 16. Motion Direction Chapter 17. Size Chapter 18. Stereopsis PART V. Linking OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE Chapter 19. Stimuli and Behavior Chapter 20. Associations Chapter 21. Mechanisms Chapter 22. Reflexes PART VI. THEORIES Chapter 23. Feature Detection Chapter 24. Statistical Inference Chapter 25. Information Theory PART VII. SELF AWARENESS Chapter 26. Awareness Chapter 27. Summing Up

Read more less

Book SynopsisSeveral Python programming books feature tools designed for experimental psychologists. What sets this book apart is its focus on eye-tracking.Eye-tracking is a widely used research technique in psychology and neuroscience labs. Research grade eye-trackers are typically faster, more accurate, and of course, more expensive than the ones seen in consumer goods or usability labs. Not surprisingly, a successful eye-tracking study usually requires sophisticated computer programming. Easy syntax and flexibility make Python a perfect choice for this task, especially for psychology researchers with little or no computer programming experience.This book offers detailed coverage of the Pylink library, a Python interface for the gold standard EyeLink ® eye-trackers, with many step-by-step example scripts. This book is a useful reference for eye-tracking researchers, but you can also use it as a textbook for graduate-level programming courses.Table of ContentsPreface 5Chapter 1 A gentle introduction to Python 7Install Python 7Python modules 8Python shell 9Script editors 11Data types 12Numbers 12Strings 12List 14Tuple 15Sets 16Dictionary 16Booleans 17Operators 17Data type conversion 18Control flow 19if statement 19for statement 20while statement 21More on looping 22List comprehension 22Functions 23Output 25Output formatting 25Files 26Modules 28Choose a library to create your “video games” 29Where to go from here 29Chapter 2 Building experiments with PsychoPy 31Install PsychoPy 31PsychoPy Coder 321Open a window 34Screen units 34Monitor 36Window types 37Gamma 37Vertical blanking 38Call on flip 39Screen capture 39Visual stimuli 40Shapes 40GratingStim 42TextStim 43Font and font files 44Right-to-left text 44Wrap width 45Non-ASCII characters 45Aperture 45Mouse and keyboard 47Mouse 47Keyboard 48Register keyboard events with the event module 49Register keyboard events with the ioHub module 49Register keyboard events with PsychHID 50Trial control 51A real example: Simon effect 54Chapter 3 Building experiments with Pygame 59Install Pygame 60Display 61Events 63Draw 65Text 66Image and sound 68A real example: Posner cueing task 69Chapter 4 Getting to know Pylink 76A brief introduction to eye-tracking 76Install Pylink 78An overview of an eye-tracking experiment 78Connect to the tracker 80Open a camera setup / calibration screen 812Configure the tracker 81Open an EDF file 82Calibration 82Data recording 82Retrieve the EDF data file 83Disconnect from the tracker 83A real example: Free viewing 83Calibration graphics 86Idle mode 86EyeLink Host commands 86Preamble text in EDF 87Record status message 87Drift-check/drift-correction 87Logging messages 88Chapter 5 Preparing scripts for analysis and visualization in Data Viewer 90Trial segmentation 91Trial variables 93Interest Areas 95Background graphics 97Size of the screen 97Image 97Video 98Simple drawing 99Draw list file 101Target position 102Examples in PsychoPy 102The Stroop task 102Custom graphics for calibration 106The DISPLAY_COORDS message 107The TRIALID and TRIAL_RESULT messages 107Record status message 107Background graphics: the IMGLOAD message 107Trial variables messages 107Messages marking critical trial events 108Video playback 108Pursuit task 113Chapter 6 Retrieving gaze data over the link 119Samples and events 119Retrieving sample data 1213Commands for sample retrieval 121Example in PsychoPy: Gaze-contingent window 124Retrieving eye events 127Commands for event retrieval 127Example in PsychoPy: Fixation trigger 133Recording playback 136Chapter 7 Advanced Pylink Functions 141Drawing to the Host PC 141Option 1: Using the draw commands 141Option 2: Sending images to the Host 142Option 3: The bitmapBackdrop command 143Send TTL via the Host PC 145Broadcasting 148Calibration and custom CoreGraphics 151Chapter 8 Data analysis and visualization in Python 163EyeLink EDF data file 163Samples 163Events 164Other useful information in the EDF data file 165EDF2ASC Converter 166Extract data from the ASC files 169Parse the ASC file with the string function split() 169Parse ASC files with regular expressions 174Data visualization 176Gaze trace plots 177Heat maps 180Scan path 183Interest area-based visualization 183Chapter 9 Miscellaneous 185Predefined constants in Pylink 185Frequently used EyeLink Host commands 185References 187

Read more less

Book Synopsis1 Dreaming and Memory: Editors' Introduction (Daniel Gregory and Kourken Michaelian).- Part I Remembering Dreams: 2 Dreams, Remembering, and Remembering Dreams: An Intentionalist, Direct Realist, Acquaintance Account (Rebecca Copenhaver).- 3 Retroactive Consciousness of Dreams: What Do We Remember When We Wake Up? (Melanie Rosen).- 4 Dream Memories, Metacognition, and the Nature of Dream Experiences (André Sant'Anna).- 5 Studying Dream Experience Through Dream Reports: Points of Contact Between Dream Research and First-Person Methods in Consciousness Science (Ema Demšar and Jennifer Windt).- 6 Remembering Dreams: Parasitic Reference by Minimal Traces in Memories From Non-veridical Experiences (Markus Werning and Kristina Liefke).- 7 True, Authentic, Faithful: Accuracy in Memory for Dreams (Kourken Michaelian).- 8 Attitudinal Pluralism in Dream Experiences and Dream Memories (Christopher Jude McCarroll, I-Jan Wang, and Ying-Tung Lin).- Part II Remembering Within Dreams: 9 Dreams of Particulars: Dreams, Memory, and Distinguishing Objectual Knowledge (Steven James).- 10 Is It Possible to Have Episodic Memories During Non-Lucid Dreams? (Daniel Gregory).- Part III Remembering and Dreaming Compared: 11 Dreaming, Imagining, and Remembering (Sven Bernecker).- 12 Perspectives in Imagination, Memory, and Dreams (Matthew Soteriou).- 13 When Is Now? How Temporally Shifting Dreams Illuminate the Feeling of Pastness (Michael Barkasi).- 14 Maurice Halbwachs on Dreams and Memory (John Sutton).- 15 Folk Beliefs About Phenomenological Differences and Similarities Between Kinds of Mental States (Vilius Dranseika).- 16 Perception in Dreams: A Guide for Dream Engineers, a Reflection on the Role of Memory in Sensory States, and a New Counterexample to Hume's Account of the Imagination (Fiona Macpherson).

Read more less

Book Synopsis1. The Role of the Concept of Mental Representation.- 2. Internalist Single-Factor Conceptions of Representation.- 3. Block's internalist two-factor account.- 4. Externalist Conceptions of Representation.- 5. Truth-Conditional Semantics.- 6. Dretske's Account of Misrepresentation as Dysfunction.- 7. Millikan's Account of Misrepresentation.- 8. Teleosemantics and System-detectable Error: Bickhard's Interactivist Model.- 9. Coherence-Based Account of Representational Error.

Read more less

Book SynopsisChapter 1 The Perennial Problem.- Chapter 2 The Phenomenology of Time-Consciousness.- Chapter 3 The Necessity of Experiential Succession.- Chapter 4 The Classic Models of Time-Consciousness.- Chapter 5 On Dynamic Snapshots and Localized Mechanisms.- Chapter 6 ERA: The Extensional-Retentional Analysis.- Chapter 7 TIER: Temporality as Iterative Expectation Revision.- Chapter 8 Conclusion.

Read more less

Book Synopsis1 Introduction.- Section 1: Intentionality.- 2 Brentano’s “Intentional In-Existence of the Object” as the Defining Mark of Mental Phenomena (Mauro Antonelli).- 3 Apparent Relationality as the Mark of the Mental (Laura Gow).- 4 Is Intentionality a Natural Mark of the Mental? On Brentano’s Scientific Methodology (Gianfranco Soldati).- 5 Naturalizing Phenomenal Intentionality (Andrea Pace Giannotta).- Section 2: Experience.- 6 Cambridge Experientialism Revisited (Arnaud Dewalque).- 7 The Copula Theory of Experience Makes Experience the Mark of the Mental (Alberto Voltolini).- 8 A Theory of Phenomenal For-me-ness (Alfredo Tomasetta).- Section 3: Between Intentionality and Experience and the Other Brentanian Marks.- 9 In Defence of a Sui Generis Disjunctivistic Account of the Mark of the Mental (Alberto Barbieri and Elisabetta Sacchi).- 10 Consciousness, Content, and Mentality (Sam Coleman).- 11 Brentanian Marks of the Mental: From Intentionality to Unity (Mark Textor).- Section 4. Other Marks and Further Problems.- 12 Character Traits and the Mark of the Mental (Katalin Farkas).- 13 Love, Understanding and the Marks of the Mental & the Psychological (Kevin Mulligan).- 14 No Marks of the Mental without Marks of the Physical (Tuomas Pernu).

Read more less

Book SynopsisPreface.- Acknowledgements.- Introduction.- Part I: Classical Foundations and the Interactional Model of Pathos.- Chapter 1. Classical Rhetoric and Everyday Argumentation.- Chapter 2. The Place of Emotion in Argumentation Theory.- Chapter 3. Towards the Interactional Model of Pathos.- Part II: Language and Psychology of Pathos.- Chapter 4. The Language of Emotion.- Chapter 5. Psychological Models of Emotions.- Chapter 6. Empirical Applications.- Part III: Artificial Intelligence for Pathos.- Chapter 7. AI Approaches to Argumentation.- Chapter 8. Lexicons and Models for Pathos Mining.- Chapter 9. Large Language Models for Pathos Mining.- Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book describes and analyzes the levels of experience that long-distance running produces. It looks at the kinds of experiences caused by long-distance running, the dimensions contained in these experiences, and their effects on the subjective life-world and well-being of an individual. Taking a philosophical approach, the analysis presented in this book is founded on Maurice Merleau-Ponty´s phenomenology of the body and Martin Heidegger´s fundamental ontology.Running is a versatile form of physical exercise which does not reveal all of its dimensions at once. These dimensions escape the eye and are not revealed to the runner conceptually, but rather as sensations and emotions. Instead of concentrating on conceptual analysis, this book explores the emotions and experiences and examines the meaning that running has in runners´ lives. Using the participative method, in which the author is both the research subject and the researcher, the book contributes to the philosophy of physical exercise.Table of Contents​Introduction.- 1: Running as phenomenal and bodily inquiry of the self.- 2: The philosophical basis of running.- 2.1: The groundwork of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy.- 2.2: Merleau-Ponty's philosophy of the body.- 2.3: Martin Heidegger's fundamental ontological philosophy.- 3: Long-distance running as the subject of study.- 4: Running as a way of life.- 5: Viewpoints to a long-distance runner.- 5.1: The “they”, authentic being and inauthentic being.- 5.2: The authenticity and inauthenticity of running.- 5.3: Running as “care”.- 5.4: The prerequisites of physical exercise.- 5.5: The uncovering and the covering of the world for a runner.- 5.6: The distant is far and near.- 5.7: Repetition.- 5.8: Running, false devotion, fanaticism and dependence.- 5.9: Ready-to-hand and present-at-hand as the dimensions of human relation with the world.- 5.10: The world as present.- 6: The world is running.- 6.1: Running experiences.- 6.2: The Buddhist marathon monks of Mount Hiei.- 7: Experiential cores.- 7.1: Disappearance of the contradiction between the subject and object.- 7.2: Calming down of the mind, quietness.- 7.3: Attunement.- 7.4: Presence.- 7.5: Power.- 7.6: Joy.- 7.7: Devotion, gratitude.- 7.8: True self, enlightenment, Absolute.- 8: Going beyond the reason and the wisdom of the body.- 8.1: Running as meditative thinking.- 8.2: The call of conscience.- 8.3: Active-passive process.- Conclusion.- Literature.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis accessible and easy-to-follow book offers a new approach to consciousness. The author’s eclectic style combines new physics-based insights with those of analytical philosophy, phenomenology, cognitive science and neuroscience. He proposes a view in which the mechanistic framework of classical physics and neuroscience is complemented by a more holistic underlying framework in which conscious experience finds its place more naturally.Trade ReviewFrom the reviews: "This is an excellent addition to Springer’s (equally excellent) Frontiers Collection. … I can highly recommend it to philosophers (of mind), philosophers of various sciences, physicists, (especially those working in foundation of physics), and anyone interested in the contemporary debate on consciousness. It would also provide a good way to become acquainted with the more difficult of Bohn’s later ideas. The book assumes no prior knowledge of quantum mechanics." (Dean Rickles, Mathematical Reviews, Issue, 2007 g)Table of ContentsThe Architecture of Matter.- The Architecture of Consciousness.- Active Information.- Time Consciousness.- Movement, Causation, and Consciousness.

Read more less

Book SynopsisDas Praxishandbuch Aufstellungsarbeit verschafft einen Überblick über die Grundlagen und Entwicklung der Aufstellungsarbeit, über die verschiedenen Schulen und Methoden sowie über deren konkrete Anwendung in spezifischen Arbeitsfeldern: Theoretisch fundiert, kritisch reflektiert und dabei anwendungsbezogen. Das Buch richtet sich an Personen, die sich einen Überblick über Aufstellungsarbeit verschaffen wollen, aber auch an AnwenderInnen, die sich vertieftes Wissen zum Thema Aufstellungen in den verschiedenen Kontexten wie Beratung, Psychotherapie, Coaching und Supervision aneignen möchten. Table of ContentsGrundlagen der Aufstellungsarbeit.- Entwicklung der Aufstellungsarbeit (z.B. durch Moreno, Satir, Hellinger).- Methoden und Schulen der Aufstellungsarbeit.- Aufstellungsarbeit in den verschiedenen Formaten (Psychotherapie, Beratung, Coaching, Supervision).- Spezifische Anwendungsfelder der Aufstellungsarbeit.- Praxisbeispiele und Herangehensweisen.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Philosophical Inquiry concerning Human Liberty of Anthony Collins' was considered by Joseph Priestley and Voltaire to be the best book written on freewill up to their own time. Priestley admitted that it convert­ ed him to determinism and it had a powerful effect on Voltaire in the same direction. It seems important to place in its wider historical context a book which so influenced such men and which greatly impressed the philosophes in general. Therefore - and because such an account has value in itself - the Introduction contains a survey of the freewill controversy from the time of Hobbes to that of Leibniz, giving in some detail the opinions of Hobbes, Locke, Pierre Bayle, William King, Archbishop of Dublin, and Leibniz and an account of the Scholastic doctrine of liberty of indifference - opinions which either influenced Collins or against which he reacted. The value and originality of Collins' works need assessing. He was also at times liable to misinterpret or misunderstand the authorities he quoted. I have, therefore, subjected the Inquiry to a detailed critique. This also gives cross-references to parallel passages in Collins' works and those of the authors who influenced him, and, by discussing the philosophical and theological questions to which his writings give rise, obviates the need for a good many footnotes in the notes that follow the text.Table of ContentsDeism.- Anthony Collins.- Writings.- The Controversy on Freewill.- The Philosophical Inquiry.- Thomas Hobbes.- John Locke.- Pierre Bayle and William King.- Liberty of Indifference.- De Origine Mali.- Bayle and King.- Leibniz.- The Inquiry.- Conclusion.- Text of the Philosophical Inquiry concerning Human Liberty.- Notes to the Text of the Inquiry.- Collation of the Text of the Inquiry.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIntroduction: A Note on Sa?khya-Yoga Philosophy of Consciousness.- Consciousness and Mind in Sa?khya and Yoga.- The Sa?khya Metaphysics of Consciousness: The Cosmic vs. the Individual Consciousness.- Is Puru?a a Contentless Consciousness in Classical Sankhya.- Puru?a as Witness Consciousness in Sa?khya Philosophy: Some Observations.- Can There be Defunct Consciousness in Sa?khya.- Sa?khya Concept of Intentional Consciousness.- Sa?khya, Tri-Gun?as, and Psychology.- The Hermeneutic Phenomenology of the Sa?khya Philosophy.- Consciousness and Causation in Sa?khya.- Satkaryavada. A causal explanation of change within eternal being.- Relationship of Purus?a and Prakr?ti in Sam?khya Karika - A Perspective from Quantum Theory.- Rethinking Patañjala Yoga Through the Concepts of Abhyasa and Vairagya.- Discriminative Knowledge: A Way Forward to Higher Consciousness.- Self-Knowledge and Self-Transformation in Sa?khya-Yoga: A Way Towards Ethics of Life.- The Yoga of Nonseparation.

Read more less

Book Synopsis1. The Evolutionary Nature of Knowledge.- 2. Scientific Theories are Intellectual Constructs.- 3. Knowledge and Employability: The Futility of Rote Education.- 4. Evolving AI Raises Human Concern.- 5. Vulnerabilities of the Patent System.

Read more less