Where's Awareness: Look in the Nineteenth Century

2018

Velmans, M. (ed.) (2018) Consciousness (Critical Concepts in Psychology), is a 4-volume collection of Major Works on Consciousness commissioned by Routledge, London. This general introduction to Volume 1 sets the stage for the entire, printed collection. As the collection forms part of a Critical Concepts in Psychology series, this selection of major works focuses mainly on works that have a direct psychological relevance. From the mid 19th Century onwards, psychology began to separate itself from philosophy, and the development of psychological thought about consciousness links intimately to the development of psychology itself. In order to trace this development, the four volumes of this collection follow a rough, historical sequence. Volume 1 deals with The Origins of Psychology and the Study of Consciousness. Volumes 2 and 3 deal with contemporary Cognitive and Neuropsychological Approaches to the Study of Consciousness. And Volume 4 focuses mainly on New Directions: Psychogenes...

2018

At the birth of psychology as a science, consciousness was its central problem. But throughout the twentieth century, ideological and methodological concerns pushed the explicit empirical study of consciousness to the sidelines. Since the 1990s, studying consciousness has regained a legitimacy and impetus befitting its status as the central feature of our mental lives. Nowadays consciousness science encompasses a rich interdisciplinary mixture drawing together philosophical, theoretical, computational, experimental, and clinical perspectives. While solving the metaphysically ‘hard’ problem of why consciousness is part of the universe may seem as intractable as ever, scientists have learned a great deal about the neural mechanisms underlying conscious states. Further progress will depend on specifying closer explanatory mappings between (first person subjective) phenomenological descriptions and (third person objective) descriptions of biological and physical processes. Such progress...

Brain and Neuroscience Advances, 2018

The mind and brain sciences began with consciousness as a central concern. But for much of the 20th century, ideological and methodological concerns relegated its empirical study to the margins. Since the 1990s, studying consciousness has regained a legitimacy and momentum befitting its status as the primary feature of our mental lives. Nowadays, consciousness science encompasses a rich interdisciplinary mixture drawing together philosophical, theoretical, computational, experimental, and clinical perspectives, with neuroscience its central discipline. Researchers have learned a great deal about the neural mechanisms underlying global states of consciousness, distinctions between conscious and unconscious perception, and self-consciousness. Further progress will depend on specifying closer explanatory mappings between (first-person subjective) phenomenological descriptions and (third-person objective) descriptions of (embodied and embedded) neuronal mechanisms. Such progress will he...

Abstract. This essay is a survey of the field of consciousness studies, its history, scope, and a little about its future. It’s principal focus is on Western thinking about consciousness beginning in classical times and continuing down to the present. It highlights and briefly describes major streams of thought including ideas from ancient Greece, German Idealism, British Empiricism, 20 th century European phenomenology, and important contemporary areas of research and scholarship. These include American pragmatism, developmental psychology, transpersonalism, analytic philosophy, computationalism, neural networks, and physics. The essay also briefly explores possible future trends in the study of consciousness. Keywords: consciousness, American pragmatism, developmental psychology, transpersonalism, analytic philosophy, computationalism, neural networks, physics

In English we use the word 'invention' in two ways. First, to mean a new device or process developed by experimentation, and designed to fulfill a practical goal. Second, to mean a mental fabrication, especially a false- hood, designed to please or persuade. In this paper I argue that human consciousness is an invention in both respects. First, it is a cognitive faculty, evolved by natural selection, designed to help us make sense of ourselves and our sur- roundings. But then, second, it is a fantasy, conjured up by the brain, designed to change the value we place on our existence.

Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 2012

Basic and clinical neuroscience, 2021

Although there are numerous views about the concept of consciousness, no consensus exists regarding the meaning. However, with the aid of the latest neuroscientific developments, the misleading obstacles related to consciousness have been removed. Over the last few decades, neuroscientific efforts in determining the function of the brain and merging these findings with philosophical theories, have brought a more comprehensive perception of the notion of consciousness. In addition to metaphysical/ontological views of consciousness e.g., higher-order theories, reflexive theories, and representationalist theories, there are some brain directed topics in this matter which include but not are limited to neural correlates of consciousness (NCC), brain loop connectivity, and lateralization. This narrative review sheds light on cultural and historical aspects of consciousness in old and middle ages and introduces some of the prominent philosophical discussions related to mind and body. Also, it illustrates the correlation of brain function with states of consciousness with a focus on the roles of function and connectivity.

Journal of Spiritual and Consciousness Studies, 2019

According to commonly accepted theories of history and the history of science in particular, a revolutionary period of progress is presaged or preceded by crises. In the case of physics and the Second Scientific Revolution (1900), these crises were a failure to detect the luminiferous aether and the problem of blackbody radiation. But these crises were defined by the winners of the Second Scientific Revolution −primarily the quantum scientists−to propagate their own claims to having overthrown the Newtonian paradigm and replace it with their own quantum paradigm. However, within this context, the cultural movement known as 'modern spiritualism; and the reciprocal movement in science to study psychic phenomena, are considered historical aberrations and therefore unscientific. Yet these are all what I call 'phallacies in fysics' because they are wrong when the historical record is studied more closely.