The Race for ConsciousnessScientists may be approaching the finish-line in the race to understand consciousness. John Taylor introduces the contending theories, including his own. There is a sense among scientists that the time is finally ripe for the problem of consciousness to be solved once and for all. The development of new experimental and theoretical tools for probing the brain has produced an atmosphere of unparalleled optimism that the job can now be done properly: The race for consciousness is on! In this book, John Taylor describes the complete scene of entries, riders, gamblers, and racecourses. He presents his own entry into the race, which he has been working on for the past twenty-five years—the relational theory of consciousness, according to which consciousness is created through the relations between brain states, especially those involving memories of personal experiences. Because it is an ongoing and adaptive process, consciousness emerges from past brain activity. It is this highly subtle and delicate process of emergence that leads to the complexity of consciousness. Taylor does not just present another theory of consciousness, but makes comprehensible the nuts-and-bolts methodology behind the myriad attempts to win the race. |
Contents
The Race Begins | 3 |
The Nature of the Conscious Mind | 13 |
The Racecourse of Consciousness | 41 |
Looking at Consciousness | 59 |
New Windows on the Mind | 61 |
Past Models of Consciousness | 99 |
Relational Consciousness | 121 |
Building the Components of Consciousness | 137 |
The Hard Problem of Consciousness | 245 |
Return to Relational Consciousness | 247 |
Where the Raw Feels Come From | 259 |
How Does Consciousness Emerge? | 273 |
Aspects of Relational Consciousness | 293 |
The Varieties of Consciousness | 295 |
Philosophical Questions | 327 |
A Scientific Model of the Mind? | 341 |
The Global Gate to Consciousness | 139 |
Winning Control | 157 |
Breakthrough to Awareness | 173 |
Active Consciousness | 193 |
The Emergence of Self | 227 |
Notes | 353 |
357 | |
375 | |