The Nature of Consciousness: Philosophical Debates

Intended for anyone attempting to find their way through the large and confusingly interwoven philosophical literature on consciousness, this reader brings together most of the principal texts in philosophy (and a small set of related key works in neuropsychology) on consciousness through 1997, and includes some forthcoming articles. Its extensive coverage strikes a balance between seminal works of the past few decades and the leading edge of philosophical research on consciousness. As no other anthology currently does, "The Nature of Consciousness" provides a substantial introduction to the field, and imposes structure on a vast and complicated literature, with sections covering stream of consciousness, theoretical issues, consciousness and representation, the function of consciousness, subjectivity and the explanatory gap, the knowledge argument, qualia, and monitoring conceptions of consciousness. Of the 49 contributions, 18 are either new or have been adapted from a previous publication. Contributors: David Armstrong. Ned Block. Tyler Burge. David Chalmers. Jennifer Church. Patricia Churchland. Paul Churchland. Martin Davies. Daniel Dennett. Fred Dretske. Owen Flanagan. Alvin Goldman. Gü ven Gü zeldere. Gilbert Harman. Frank Jackson. William James. Marcel Kinsbourne. Joseph Levine. David Lewis. Brian Loar. William Lycan. Colin McGinn. Thomas Nagel. Christopher Peacocke. Georges Rey. David Rosenthal. John Searle. Sydney Shoemaker. Michael Tye. Robert van Gulick. Stephen White.