Emotions, Qualia, and Consciousness

Emotions, Qualia, and Consciousness PDF Author: Alfred W. Kaszniak
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9812810684
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description
The experience of emotion is a ubiquitous component of the stream of consciousness; emotional qualia interact with other contents and processes of consciousness in complex ways. Recent research has supported the hypothesis that important functional aspects of emotion can operate outside the conscious awareness. Primary types of emotions are found in animals, while secondary, more complex types are involved in interpersonal relationships. Emotions both influence genetic repair mechanisms of individuals and are responsible for group behavior. Many scholars and scientists believe that no scientific or philosophic account of consciousness can be complete without an understanding of the role of emotion. Contents: Emotion and Consciousness: Current Research and Controversies (A W Kaszniak); The Nature of Typical Emotions (A Ben-Ze''ev); Emotions Associated to Cognitive Revision as a Basis for Values (P Livet); Neuro-Affective Processes and the Brain Substrates of Emotion: Emerging Perspective and Dilemmas (J Pankseep); Imagery and Emotion: Information Networks in the Brain (P J Lang); Hemispheric Asymmetries in Representation and Control of Emotions: Evidence from Unilateral Brain Damage (G Gainotti); Hierarchical Organization of Emotional Experience and Its Neural Substrates (R Lane); Metal Representations, the Reticular Activating System and Emotions (B Cabott); Antecedents and Functions of Emotion Episodes (N H Frijda); The Communication of Emotion (U Hess); The Mental Representation of Romantic Jealousy: A Blended Emotion (and More) (D J Sharpsteen); and other papers. Readership: Postdoctoral students and researchers in biocybernetics, neurosciences, cognitive sciences and psychology.

Emotions, Qualia, and Consciousness

Emotions, Qualia, and Consciousness PDF Author: Alfred W. Kaszniak
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9812810684
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 568

Get Book Here

Book Description
The experience of emotion is a ubiquitous component of the stream of consciousness; emotional qualia interact with other contents and processes of consciousness in complex ways. Recent research has supported the hypothesis that important functional aspects of emotion can operate outside the conscious awareness. Primary types of emotions are found in animals, while secondary, more complex types are involved in interpersonal relationships. Emotions both influence genetic repair mechanisms of individuals and are responsible for group behavior. Many scholars and scientists believe that no scientific or philosophic account of consciousness can be complete without an understanding of the role of emotion. Contents: Emotion and Consciousness: Current Research and Controversies (A W Kaszniak); The Nature of Typical Emotions (A Ben-Ze''ev); Emotions Associated to Cognitive Revision as a Basis for Values (P Livet); Neuro-Affective Processes and the Brain Substrates of Emotion: Emerging Perspective and Dilemmas (J Pankseep); Imagery and Emotion: Information Networks in the Brain (P J Lang); Hemispheric Asymmetries in Representation and Control of Emotions: Evidence from Unilateral Brain Damage (G Gainotti); Hierarchical Organization of Emotional Experience and Its Neural Substrates (R Lane); Metal Representations, the Reticular Activating System and Emotions (B Cabott); Antecedents and Functions of Emotion Episodes (N H Frijda); The Communication of Emotion (U Hess); The Mental Representation of Romantic Jealousy: A Blended Emotion (and More) (D J Sharpsteen); and other papers. Readership: Postdoctoral students and researchers in biocybernetics, neurosciences, cognitive sciences and psychology.

The Case for Qualia

The Case for Qualia PDF Author: Edmond Leo Wright
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262731886
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 790

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Book Description
Philosophical and scientific defenses of Indirect Realism and counterarguments to the attacks of qualiaphobes. Many philosophers and cognitive scientists dismiss the notion of qualia, sensory experiences that are internal to the brain. Leading opponents of qualia (and of Indirect Realism, the philosophical position that has qualia as a central tenet) include Michael Tye, Daniel Dennett, Paul and Patricia Churchland, and even Frank Jackson, a former supporter. Qualiaphiles apparently face the difficulty of establishing philosophical contact with the real when their access to it is seen by qualiaphobes to be second-hand and, worse, hidden behind a "veil of sensation"--a position that would slide easily into relativism and solipsism, presenting an ethical dilemma. In The Case for Qualia, proponents of qualia defend the Indirect Realist position and mount detailed counterarguments against opposing views. The book first presents philosophical defenses, with arguments propounding, variously, a new argument from illusion, a sense-datum theory, dualism, "qualia realism," qualia as the "cement" of the experiential world, and "subjective physicalism." Three scientific defenses follow, discussing color, heat, and the link between the external object and the internal representation. Finally, specific criticisms of opposing views include discussions of the Churchlands' "neurophilosophy," answers to Frank Jackson's abandonment of qualia (one of which is titled, in a reference to Jackson's famous thought experiment, "Why Frank Should Not Have Jilted Mary"), and refutations of Transparency Theory. Contributors Torin Alter, Michel Bitbol, Harold I. Brown, Mark Crooks, George Graham, C.L. Hardin, Terence E. Horgan, Robert J. Howell, Amy Kind, E.J. Lowe, Riccardo Manzotti, Barry Maund, Martine Nida-Rümelin, John O'Dea, Isabelle Peschard, Matjaz Potrc, Diana Raffman, Howard Robinson, William S. Robinson, John R. Smythies, Edmond Wright

Consciousness and the Philosophy of Signs

Consciousness and the Philosophy of Signs PDF Author: Marc Champagne
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319733389
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
It is often thought that consciousness has a qualitative dimension that cannot be tracked by science. Recently, however, some philosophers have argued that this worry stems not from an elusive feature of the mind, but from the special nature of the concepts used to describe conscious states. Marc Champagne draws on the neglected branch of philosophy of signs or semiotics to develop a new take on this strategy. The term “semiotics” was introduced by John Locke in the modern period – its etymology is ancient Greek, and its theoretical underpinnings are medieval. Charles Sanders Peirce made major advances in semiotics, so he can act as a pipeline for these forgotten ideas. Most philosophers know Peirce as the founder of American pragmatism, but few know that he also coined the term “qualia,” which is meant to capture the intrinsic feel of an experience. Since pragmatic verification and qualia are now seen as conflicting commitments, Champagne endeavors to understand how Peirce could (or thought he could) have it both ways. The key, he suggests, is to understand how humans can insert distinctions between features that are always bound. Recent attempts to take qualities seriously have resulted in versions of panpsychism, but Champagne outlines a more plausible way to achieve this. So, while semiotics has until now been the least known branch of philosophy ending in –ics, his book shows how a better understanding of that branch can move one of the liveliest debates in philosophy forward.

Qualia and Mental Causation in a Physical World

Qualia and Mental Causation in a Physical World PDF Author: Terence Horgan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316240738
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
How does mind fit into nature? Philosophy has long been concerned with this question. No contemporary philosopher has done more to clarify it than Jaegwon Kim, a distinguished analytic philosopher specializing in metaphysics and philosophy of mind. With new contributions from an outstanding line-up of eminent scholars, this volume focuses on issues raised in Kim's work. The chapters cluster around two themes: first, exclusion, supervenience, and reduction, with attention to the causal exclusion argument for which Kim is widely celebrated; and second, phenomenal consciousness and qualia, with attention to the prospects for a functionalist account of the mental. This volume is sure to become a major focus of attention and research in the disciplines of metaphysics and philosophy of mind.

Illusionism

Illusionism PDF Author: Keith Frankish
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
ISBN: 1845409663
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
Illusionism is the view that phenomenal consciousness (in the philosophers' sense) is an illusion. This book is a reprint of a special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies devoted to this topic. It takes the form of a target paper by the editor, followed by commentaries from various thinkers, including leading defenders of the theory such as Daniel Dennett, Nicholas Humphrey, Derk Pereboom and Georges Rey. A number of disciplines are represented and different viewpoints are discussed and defended. The colleciton is tied together with a response to the commentaries from the editor.

Consciousness Explained

Consciousness Explained PDF Author: Daniel C. Dennett
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
ISBN: 0316439487
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 707

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Book Description
Daniel Dennett's "brilliant" exploration of human consciousness — named one of the ten best books of the year by the New York Times — is a masterpiece beloved by both scientific experts and general readers (New York Times Book Review). Consciousness Explained is a full-scale exploration of human consciousness. In this landmark book, Daniel Dennett refutes the traditional, commonsense theory of consciousness and presents a new model, based on a wealth of information from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence. Our current theories about conscious life — of people, animal, even robots — are transformed by the new perspectives found in this book. "Dennett is a witty and gifted scientific raconteur, and the book is full of fascinating information about humans, animals, and machines. The result is highly digestible and a useful tour of the field." —Wall Street Journal

Philosophy, Neuroscience and Consciousness

Philosophy, Neuroscience and Consciousness PDF Author: Rex Welshon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315478757
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
Explaining consciousness is one of the last great unanswered scientific and philosophical problems. Immediately known, familiar and obvious, consciousness is also baffling, opaque and strange. This introduction to the problems posed by consciousness discusses the most important work of cognitive science, neurophysiology and philosophy of mind of the past thirty years and presents an up to date assessment of the issues and debates. The reader is first introduced to the way that consciousness has been thought about in the history of philosophy and psychology. The author then presents an informal and largely non-technical account of the properties of consciousness that are thought to be the most paradigmatic and problematic. Recent scientific work on consciousness, from neurophysiological studies of the brain and evolutionary studies of the development of consciousness to computational theories of the mind are then examined and the philosophical problems that these accounts raise are systematically introduced. The final chapters of the book consider more practical matters by addressing self-deception, neuroses, the unconscious and notions of the self, before concluding with an assessment of the future for psychology and the philosophy of mind.

A History of the Modernist Novel

A History of the Modernist Novel PDF Author: Gregory Castle
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107034957
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 549

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Book Description
A History of the Modernist Novel reassesses the modernist canon and produces a wealth of new comparative analyses that radically revise the novel's history. It also considers the novel's global reach while suggesting that the epoch of modernism is not yet finished.

Consciousness

Consciousness PDF Author: Christof Koch
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262301032
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
A fascinating exploration of the human brain that combines “the leading edge of consciousness science with surprisingly personal and philosophical reflection . . . shedding light on how scientists really think”—this is “science writing at its best” (Times Higher Education). In which a scientist searches for an empirical explanation for phenomenal experience, spurred by his instinctual belief that life is meaningful. What links conscious experience of pain, joy, color, and smell to bioelectrical activity in the brain? How can anything physical give rise to nonphysical, subjective, conscious states? Christof Koch has devoted much of his career to bridging the seemingly unbridgeable gap between the physics of the brain and phenomenal experience. This engaging book—part scientific overview, part memoir, part futurist speculation—describes Koch’s search for an empirical explanation for consciousness. Koch recounts not only the birth of the modern science of consciousness but also the subterranean motivation for his quest—his instinctual (if “romantic”) belief that life is meaningful. Koch describes his own groundbreaking work with Francis Crick in the 1990s and 2000s and the gradual emergence of consciousness (once considered a “fringy” subject) as a legitimate topic for scientific investigation. Present at this paradigm shift were Koch and a handful of colleagues, including Ned Block, David Chalmers, Stanislas Dehaene, Giulio Tononi, Wolf Singer, and others. Aiding and abetting it were new techniques to listen in on the activity of individual nerve cells, clinical studies, and brain-imaging technologies that allowed safe and noninvasive study of the human brain in action. Koch gives us stories from the front lines of modern research into the neurobiology of consciousness as well as his own reflections on a variety of topics, including the distinction between attention and awareness, the unconscious, how neurons respond to Homer Simpson, the physics and biology of free will, dogs, Der Ring des Nibelungen, sentient machines, the loss of his belief in a personal God, and sadness. All of them are signposts in the pursuit of his life's work—to uncover the roots of consciousness.

Conscious Experience

Conscious Experience PDF Author: Thomas Metzinger
Publisher: Imprint Academic
ISBN: 9780907845058
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 580

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Book Description
The contributions to this book are original articles, representing a cross-section of current philosophical work on consciousness and thereby allowing students and readers from other disciplines to acquaint themselves with the very latest debate, so that they can then pursue their own research interests more effectively. The volume includes a bibliography on consciousness in philosophy, cognitive science and brain research, covering the last 25 years and consisting of over 1000 entries in 18 thematic sections, compiled by David Chalmers and Thomas Metzinger.