Consciousness, Seeing, and Knowing, digital original edition
Consciousness, Seeing, and Knowing, digital original edition

Author: Michael Tye

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 42

ISBN-13: 0262318679

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The philosopher Michael Tye, reversing his previous position, rejects the phenomenal concept strategy (which holds that we possess a range of special concepts for classifying the subjective aspects of our experiences) and formulates another approach for defending materialism. In this BIT, he examines one puzzle of consciousness that philosophical materialism must confront after rejecting the phenomenal concept strategy.

Digital Consciousness: A Transformative Vision
Digital Consciousness: A Transformative Vision

Author: Jim Elvidge

Publisher: John Hunt Publishing

Published: 2018-12-14

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1785357611

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What could be a more compelling read than a book that explains the greatest mysteries known to man in one fell swoop. Who is God? What happens after we die? What the heck is quantum entanglement? Why did Dolly’s braces disappear in the movie "Moonraker?" Our reality is not what it appears to be. The latest physics experiments demonstrate that an objective reality doesn’t exist. And no one truly knows what consciousness is or where the mind resides. Strange interconnectedness, anomalous events, and changing histories confound even the most open-minded of scientists. No single theory seems to be able to explain it all. Until now.

Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness
Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness

Author: Patrick House

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2022-10-11

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 125015118X

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A concise, elegant, and thought-provoking exploration of the mystery of consciousness and the functioning of the brain. Despite decades of research, remarkable imagery, and insights from a range of scientific and medical disciplines, the human brain remains largely unexplored. Consciousness has eluded explanation. Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness offers a brilliant overview of the state of modern consciousness research in twenty brief, revealing chapters. Neuroscientist and author Patrick House describes complex concepts in accessible terms, weaving brain science, technology, gaming, analogy, and philosophy into a tapestry that illuminates how the brain works and what enables consciousness. This remarkable book fosters a sense of mystery and wonder about the strangeness of the relationship between our inner selves and our environment.

In Defense of the HOT Thesis, digital original edition
In Defense of the HOT Thesis, digital original edition

Author: Rocco J. Gennaro

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 0262318695

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Consciousness is perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the world and yet it is so very familiar to each of us. In this BIT, tackling a central paradox of consciousness (namely, how it is possible to hold a number of seemingly inconsistent views about it), Rocco Gennaro proposes a version of the HOT (higher order thought) thesis that is consistent with animal consciousness. Gennaro's integration of empirical and philosophical concerns will make his argument of interest to both philosophers and nonphilosophers.

When Your Eyes Are Closed, What Do You See?, digital original edition
When Your Eyes Are Closed, What Do You See?, digital original edition

Author: Eric Schwitzgebel

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 73

ISBN-13: 0262318636

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What do we know about our inner life, our stream of conscious experience? In this BIT, Eric Schwitzgebel investigates some of our singularly inaccurate judgments about conscious experience. He considers unattended stimuli (does unremembered mean unexperienced?) and our visual experience when our eyes are closed.

The Ontological Problem, digital original edition
The Ontological Problem, digital original edition

Author: Paul M. Churchland

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 73

ISBN-13: 026231861X

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This selection from a recently updated edition of a classic work by Paul Churchland considers such questions as the nature of mental states and processes, in what medium they take place, how they are related to the physical world, whether consciousness survives the disintegration of the physical body, and if a purely physical system such as a computer could enjoy real conscious experience. It proceeds by investigating which of the available theories of mind proves to be the most reasonable theory on the evidence and has the greatest explanatory power, predictive power, coherence, and simplicity.

Virtual Agency, digital original edition
Virtual Agency, digital original edition

Author: Daniel M. Wegner

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 68

ISBN-13: 026231973X

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Do we consciously cause our actions, or do they happen to us? Philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, theologians, and lawyers have long debated the existence of free will versus determinism. This BIT, excerpted from an influential book by the late Daniel Wegner, offers an innovative view of one aspect of free will. Wegner argues that when people project action to imaginary agents, they create virtual agents, apparent sources of their own volition.

Neither Slave Nor Master, digital original edition
Neither Slave Nor Master, digital original edition

Author: Michael P. Lynch

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13: 0262318717

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Why does rationality matter for democracy? In this BIT, Michael Lynch offers a spirited defense of reason and rationality in an era of widespread skepticism. Lynch investigates how our reason is affected by emotion and intuition, discussing, among other things, fMRIs of the brains of George Bush supporters, the Platonist ideal of reason, and Huck Finn's moral dilemma.

Science for Monks: Buddhism and Science, digital original edition
Science for Monks: Buddhism and Science, digital original edition

Author: Owen Flanagan

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 55

ISBN-13: 0262318873

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How is meaning possible in a material world? Owen Flanagan proposes a naturalistic (rather than supernaturalistic) way to live meaningfully, to live a life that really matters, to flourish, to achieve eudaimonia—to be a “happy spirit.” In this BIT, Flanagan draws on insights from neuroscience and on the transformative mindfulness and self-cultivation practices in Buddhism.

The Subject, This Inwardly Circumcised Jew, digital original edition
The Subject, This Inwardly Circumcised Jew, digital original edition

Author: Slavoj Zizek

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 93

ISBN-13: 0262318776

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Parallax can be defined as the apparent displacement of an object, caused by a change in observational position. Slavoj Žižek is interested in the “parallax gap” separating two points between which no synthesis or mediation is possible, linked by an “impossible short circuit” of levels that can never meet. In this BIT, Žižek draws on Lacan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kant, Hegel, and Marx to explore the philosophical implications of parallax.