Description
Book SynopsisWhat is consciousness? How does the subjective character of consciousness fit into an objective world? How can there be a science of consciousness? In this sequel to his groundbreaking and controversial The Conscious Mind, David Chalmers develops a unified framework that addresses these questions and many others. Starting with a statement of the hard problem of consciousness, Chalmers builds a positive framework for the science of consciousness and a nonreductive vision of the metaphysics of consciousness. He replies to many critics of The Conscious Mind, and then develops a positive theory in new directions. The book includes original accounts of how we think and know about consciousness, of the unity of consciousness, and of how consciousness relates to the external world. Along the way, Chalmers develops many provocative ideas: the consciousness meter, the Garden of Eden as a model of perceptual experience, and The Matrix as a guide to the deepest philosophical problems about consciousness and the external world. This book will be required reading for anyone interested in the problems of mind, brain, consciousness, and reality.
Trade Reviewthe papers collected here exemplify all the virtues that we have come to expect from Chalmerss work ... Throughout, he is strikingly resourceful in articulating and defending his views. * Stephan Leuenberger, Australasian Journal of Philosophy *
Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; AFTERWORD: FROM "MOVING FORWARD ON THE PROBLEM OF CONSCIOUSNESS"; AFTERWORD: FIRST-PERSON DATA AND FIRST-PERSON SCIENCE; AFTERWORD: OTHER ANTI-MATERIALIST ARGUMENTS; AFTERWORD: THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL CONTENTS OF PERCEPTION; AFTERWORD: PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES; APPENDIX: TWO-DIMENSIONAL SEMANTICS
