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Introducing Consciousness: A Graphic Guide
"Introducing Consciousness" provides a comprehensive guide to the current state of consciousness studies. It starts with the history of the philosophical relation between mind and matter, and proceeds to scientific attempts to explain consciousness in terms of neural mechanisms, cerebral computation and quantum mechanics. Along the way, readers will be introduced to zombies and Chinese Rooms, ghosts in machines and Schrodinger's cat.
180 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 3, 1996
312 people are currently reading
715 people want to read
About the author
David Papineau
31 books26 followersDavid Papineau ( born 1947) is a British academic philosopher, born in Como, Italy.[1] He works as Professor of Philosophy of Science at King's College London and the City University of New York Graduate Center having previously taught for several years at Cambridge University where he was a fellow of Robinson College.
Papineau was born in Italy and grew up in Trinidad, England and South Africa.[citation needed] He received a BSc in mathematics from the University of Natal and a BA and PhD in philosophy from the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Ian Hacking.
He has worked in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophies of science, mind, and mathematics. His overall stance is naturalist and realist. He is one of the originators of the teleosemantic theory of mental representation, a solution to the problem of intentionality which derives the intentional content of our beliefs from their biological purpose. He is also a defender of the a posteriori physicalist solution to the mind-body problem
Papineau was elected President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science for 1993–5, of the Mind Association for 2009–10 and of the Aristotelian Society for 2013-4
His latest book Knowing the Score (2017) is written for a general readership, and looks at a number of ways in which sporting issues cast light on long-standing philosophical problems.
Papineau lives in London with his wife, Rose Wild
Papineau was born in Italy and grew up in Trinidad, England and South Africa.[citation needed] He received a BSc in mathematics from the University of Natal and a BA and PhD in philosophy from the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Ian Hacking.
He has worked in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophies of science, mind, and mathematics. His overall stance is naturalist and realist. He is one of the originators of the teleosemantic theory of mental representation, a solution to the problem of intentionality which derives the intentional content of our beliefs from their biological purpose. He is also a defender of the a posteriori physicalist solution to the mind-body problem
Papineau was elected President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science for 1993–5, of the Mind Association for 2009–10 and of the Aristotelian Society for 2013-4
His latest book Knowing the Score (2017) is written for a general readership, and looks at a number of ways in which sporting issues cast light on long-standing philosophical problems.
Papineau lives in London with his wife, Rose Wild
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
January 25, 2020
Another of these Graphic Guide books. This one tackles the difficult riddle of consciousness that has been puzzling philosophers and scientists for centuries. The British philosopher Colin McGinn puts it in a brief yet striking question: “How can technicolour phenomenology arise from soggy grey matter?”. In other words, how can chemicophysical processes inside our brain (which is not very different from digestion inside our stomach) bring about the inner movie of our conscious mind? These two things seem to have very little in common indeed. This is what is traditionally called “the mind-body problem” (or as David Chalmers likes to call it, “the hard problem of consciousness”). Philosophers have been hitting a brick wall with this debate since Aristotle, Descartes, Leibniz and Berkeley, by way of Hegel, Schopenhauer, Bergson and Husserl, down to present time neuroscientists.
This little book lays out the different arguments around this question. On the one hand, the dualist position, held today by David Chalmers and others, who believe that consciousness is different than matter. On the other, the materialists (Daniel Dennett et al.) who maintain that there is nothing outside matter and that consciousness is a sort of illusion or, at best, an epiphenomenon. Several odd notions are explained, such as the “zombie duplicate”, the “pre-established harmony”, the “Turing test”, the “Skinner box”, Searle’s “Chinese room”, “Schrödinger’s cat”, panpsychism, the debate about consciousness in octopuses, computers and aliens, and other such fascinating or bootless thought experiments.
In the main, a pretty nice albeit disjointed overview on the subject, leaving aside a few other (and more recent) discussions, like the extended mind thesis (Chalmers), the metaphysical problems of teleportation (Dennett) or the refreshing idealistic approach of Donald Hoffman (redux of Berkeley and Kant, with a dash of Darwin).
In contrast, however, the graphic part of this book is unnecessary and repulsive — silly drawings with the same ugly lady in a pencil skirt, with big glasses and a mop of hair… I’ve been wondering who the hell that was the whole way through. Reason enough to give up on this book series altogether if you ask me. So much for graphic guides, ugh!
This little book lays out the different arguments around this question. On the one hand, the dualist position, held today by David Chalmers and others, who believe that consciousness is different than matter. On the other, the materialists (Daniel Dennett et al.) who maintain that there is nothing outside matter and that consciousness is a sort of illusion or, at best, an epiphenomenon. Several odd notions are explained, such as the “zombie duplicate”, the “pre-established harmony”, the “Turing test”, the “Skinner box”, Searle’s “Chinese room”, “Schrödinger’s cat”, panpsychism, the debate about consciousness in octopuses, computers and aliens, and other such fascinating or bootless thought experiments.
In the main, a pretty nice albeit disjointed overview on the subject, leaving aside a few other (and more recent) discussions, like the extended mind thesis (Chalmers), the metaphysical problems of teleportation (Dennett) or the refreshing idealistic approach of Donald Hoffman (redux of Berkeley and Kant, with a dash of Darwin).
In contrast, however, the graphic part of this book is unnecessary and repulsive — silly drawings with the same ugly lady in a pencil skirt, with big glasses and a mop of hair… I’ve been wondering who the hell that was the whole way through. Reason enough to give up on this book series altogether if you ask me. So much for graphic guides, ugh!
November 1, 2011
This was okay , except the illustrations suck
June 30, 2019
In here we hear about some of the ideas from Descartes, Russell, Wittgenstein and Berkeley as well as the thoughts and theories of many contemporary scientists and philosophers. We also get explanations of the concepts of Epiphenomenalism, Dualism, Idealism, Materialism Mysterianism with their various pros and cons in relation to our perceived ideas of consciousness.
Elsewhere we find out more about The Turing Test, The Chinese Room, The Skinner Box, The Beetle in the Box, The Ghost in the Machine and other experiments and ideas that throw up all sorts of view-points. I didn’t like the artwork in here. I found it far too messy and cold and the woman they chose as a visual guide was a bit annoying too. Overall this had its interesting moments, but I could hardly say that I enjoyed it as such.
April 13, 2025
My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.
December 5, 2020
Some of it was hard to understand, but this seems to be a topic that is hard for even the experts to understand.
September 4, 2025
I would love to build a reading group around this book. It stays vague but offers enough meat to get one started. A great introduction with a few important thought experiments and ideas thrown in
September 15, 2021
Introducing Consciousness: A Graphic Guide by David Papineau and Howard Selina is the latest book in this series I’ve read. It explores what this thing is that we call consciousness. There are no answers, because consciousness remains pretty elusive, but the book doesn’t aim to give you answers.
One of the ideas raised was philosopher Thomas Nagel’s question, “What’s it like to be a bat?” What does it feel like to use echolocation? But for you to even try to imagine what it would like for you to be a bat imposes your human perspective, which the bat doesn’t have, so despite whatever we may think we know, we actually don’t have a clue. What it’s like for a bat to be a bat has nothing to do with what your head thinks it would feel like in a bat’s body.
I didn’t think to look at the date the book was originally published until I got to the part about the brain and mind as hardware vs. software. It included a cartoon with a person throwing CDs like frisbees and saying that software is “the program that a machine is running – such as Microsoft Word, or Netscape, or Telnet.” Suh-weet! (Urban Dictionary’s top definition for that was from 2002, which is around the time we’re talking about here.) I don’t think that anyone non-computer geek-ish ever talked about Telnet, but Netscape was the maker of everyone’s favourite browser almost a quarter century ago, complete with some fancy-pants graphics…
Cruisin' the web on this bad boy:BuzzFeedCruisin' the web on this bad boy: | 32 Things That Will Make You Miss The Old Days Of The Internet
Now, had the person in the cartoon been throwing the floppy disks that were actually floppy, that would have taken us back another 15 years or so. Although apparently it was only in 2019 that the US military stopped managing its nukes with 8″ floppy disks. A 2016 report said, “The system is still running on an IBM Series/1 Computer, which is a 1970s computing system, and written in assembly language code.” Well, you sure as fuck wouldn’t want Windows Vista anywhere the nukes, so bring on the ’70s OS!
Some of the theoretical bits aren’t all that interesting, and while it doesn’t get particularly nitty gritty, the casual reader is probably isn’t going to care all that much about what the various relevant theories say. What is interesting, though, is the questions those theories evoke. There’s also a curious mix of hmm, that sounds like it could be right, alongside urgh, that sounds weird.
One tidbit I found particularly interesting was the layer that our imaginative abilities add. Not only are we conscious of what we’re experiencing as it happens, but we can bring those conscious experiences up again by re-enacting them in our imaginations.
Some theorists have proposed that higher-level thought characterizes consciousness, meaning the ability to think about our experiences rather than just live them. But my pea-brain guinea pigs aren’t doing any higher-level thinking, and I would say they have some form of consciousness.
Another interesting tidbit was that we have a theory of mind; not only do we think about what we’re experiencing, but we can also think about what other people are thinking. One way of demonstrating this is the false-belief test. Let’s say watch a video where little Sally puts a Cadbury Creme Egg in a basket, then she leaves the room. Speaking of a quarter century ago, Creme Eggs used to be bigger, and they should have stayed that way. Okay, so then the Easter Bunny comes into the room and moves the Creme Egg into a drawer. Then the Easter Bunny leaves and Sally returns to the room. Where is she going to look for her Creme Egg?
If you’re more than 3-4 years old, you’ve developed a theory of mind, and you know that Sally will think the Creme Egg is still in the basket where she put it. If you’re younger than that, you haven’t developed the ability to think about what Sally is thinking, so you would think that she’d go look for it in the drawer, because that’s where it is now, so why would she go to the basket that doesn’t have the Creme Egg?
Anyway, the book itself is decent but not amazing, but the topic itself is fascinating. I don’t have any strong beliefs around consciousness, aside from the fact that I don’t see any reason to think that consciousness is detachable from the brain, which is probably part of why the idea of life after death has never done anything for me.
December 23, 2023
That’s a 101 book on the concept of consciousness. First, three abstract approaches were mentioned in the book: the proposition that the conscious mind is equivalent to the brain (materialism), the notion that it represents an additional domain of existence (dualism), or the belief that comprehending the entire concept is inherently challenging (mysterianism). Meanwhile, Chalmers’ hard problem, Levine’s explanatory gap, Descartes’ predictions on the pineal gland, Berkeley’s idealism (esse est percipi- to be is to be perceived) were mentioned briefly. Then the scientific reaction to idealism took part in the book. Thus, the author continued with the common goal of figuring out the bodily functions that give rise to consciousness. Most of the names and keywords that I expected to see were there like Rosenthal’s HOT theories, self-consciousness, theory of mind, the difference between sentience and self-consciousness, PET and MRI studies. However, some names were not mentioned like Baars’ Global Work Space Theory, Koch and Crick’s NCC or Kaku and his colleagues’ claim that “consciousness is the number of feedback loops required to create a model of your position in space with relationship to other organisms and in relationship with time. “
That was a fun-read book for me. This book can be easily read by someone who is new to the topic or who wishes to review the basics.
“Have you heard the joke about the two Behaviourists?
Behaviourist A meets Behaviourist B, and says…
You are feeling well today. How am I?”
“Chalmers draws an analogy with the 19th-century recognition of electromagnetism as a fundamental force. Originally, 19th-century scientists had hoped that electromagnetism could be explained in terms of more basic mechanical processes. But Maxwell and his contemporaries realized that this was impossible, and so added electromagnetism to the list of basic elements of reality. Chalmers urges exactly the same move with respect to consciousness. “
“In the case of temperature, physicists went the other way. Instead of adding temperature to the fundamental components of reality, they explained it in terms of more basic mechanical quantity, namely mean kinetic energy. Note that this did not eliminate temperature from our world view, in the way that “animal spirits”, say, have been eliminated, or “vital forces”. We still think temperature exists all right.
Similarly with consciousness, urge the materialists. Conscious states exist all right, but not something extra to brain activity. Just as we have discovered that temperature is nothing but mean kinetic energy, so, argue the reductionists, we should accept that conscious states, like pain, are nothing but certain brain states.”
That was a fun-read book for me. This book can be easily read by someone who is new to the topic or who wishes to review the basics.
“Have you heard the joke about the two Behaviourists?
Behaviourist A meets Behaviourist B, and says…
You are feeling well today. How am I?”
“Chalmers draws an analogy with the 19th-century recognition of electromagnetism as a fundamental force. Originally, 19th-century scientists had hoped that electromagnetism could be explained in terms of more basic mechanical processes. But Maxwell and his contemporaries realized that this was impossible, and so added electromagnetism to the list of basic elements of reality. Chalmers urges exactly the same move with respect to consciousness. “
“In the case of temperature, physicists went the other way. Instead of adding temperature to the fundamental components of reality, they explained it in terms of more basic mechanical quantity, namely mean kinetic energy. Note that this did not eliminate temperature from our world view, in the way that “animal spirits”, say, have been eliminated, or “vital forces”. We still think temperature exists all right.
Similarly with consciousness, urge the materialists. Conscious states exist all right, but not something extra to brain activity. Just as we have discovered that temperature is nothing but mean kinetic energy, so, argue the reductionists, we should accept that conscious states, like pain, are nothing but certain brain states.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2014
This is my first read in the 'Introducing' series. The idea,to teach through pictures,seems good but the pictures used in this book are horrible. You could've selected a simple narrator at least. Everytime I see her,I feel irritated. She has got this nerdy-looking-but-good-for-nothing look. The concepts,including the tough problems of consciousness,were presented in a very simple manner. Written in the lines of 'for beginners' series,this work is a common man's guide to the intricacies of the problem of consciousness.
Read
September 26, 2021Thorough analysis on work done till now on consciousness
The basis of rating it is unbiased approach to analyse work done by different philosophers on consciousness theory. There is no final answer to the question but still it's a good thesis.
The basis of rating it is unbiased approach to analyse work done by different philosophers on consciousness theory. There is no final answer to the question but still it's a good thesis.
January 31, 2023
Really interesting
Very good explanation of consciousness with examples from all the evolutionary aspects of human life and development made by him.
Very good explanation of consciousness with examples from all the evolutionary aspects of human life and development made by him.
March 8, 2020
الكتاب : اقدم لك ( الشعور)
الكاتب : ديفيد بابينو
عدد الصفحات : ١٩٦
التقييم النهائي :***
العلم الغامض...
** ويعرفون الشعور او الوعي أحيانا الفرق بين كونك مستيقظا وكونك نائما ولكن هذا الكلام ليس صحيحا تماما... فالأحلام تأتي نتيجة لتجارب الوعي او الشعور حتي وان كانت هذة التجارب أقل تماسكا في العادة من تجارب اليقظة **
( الشعور _ الوعي _ الذهن) كلمات حاول العلماء والفلاسفة لوقت طويل جدا إيجاد معنى او تعريف او معادلة علمية يستطيعوا ان يحللوا بها تلك الظاهرة الإنسانية... ما بين الفلسفة والعلم والعديد من التجارب العلمية والتفسيرات المعقدة والمدارس والنظريات لازال حتي يومنا هذا فكرة الشعور والوعي واللاوعي افكار غامضة لم يستطع لها العلم سبيلا محددا...
** ولكني اعتبرت العالم المحسوس هو اختلاف من منظورنا الذهني بناء منطقي من معطيات حسية نعيها في ادراكنا الحسي ** (برتراند راسل)
ثالث تجاربي مع سلسلة اقدم لك والاخيرة لقراءات الشهر ليقع اختياري علي كتاب الشعور... تلك الكلمة البسيطة جدا لي كإنسان ومعقدة جدا لدي الفلاسفة والفيزيائيين والمفكرين المؤمنين بمادية كل شئ في العالم... فيحاول الكاتب ان يطرح النظريات التي تناولت وبحثت داخل أسوار العقل البشري وايضا الحيواني.. فا بين الوراثة والمورثات والرياضيات وافكار ديكارت وثنائيته وافكار باركلي واينشاتين والتجارب العلمية التي حاولت فك الغاز العقل كتجربة قط شرودنجر التي تعتبر اشهرهم يقف العلم حائرا مثل تلميذ مجتهد يحاول البحث عن إجابة عن سؤال بسيط جدا ما معنى كلمة انا أشعر....
** الذوات الواعية مخلوقة من نفس الجوهر ولكن الأجسام الإنسانية من الجوهر الاخر... فالذوات هي أنفس غير مادية بينما الأجسام مادية دنيوية ** ( ديكارت)
ربما لم تكن الأمور بتلك البساطة في المحتوى وخاصة ان المحتوى تسعين في المية منه علمي بحت حاول الكاتب ان يبسطه لنا مستعينا بالصور والشروحات المصورة ولكن ذلك لم يمنع شعوري بالتخبط في الأفكار في بعض الأحيان طالبا بمعلومات اكثر كي استوعب تلك النظرية مثلا او هذا المثل... ولذلك قد لا يكون ذلك الكتاب ممتع كسابقيه من السلسلة ولكنه يعتبر خطوة أولى في القراءة عن هذا الموضوع العلمي الغامض...
** فربما يكون الوعي او الشعور هو بعث للحقيقة غير المكانية التي جاءت من حقبة سابقة **
التقييم النهائي ٣ نجوم من ٥
الكاتب : ديفيد بابينو
عدد الصفحات : ١٩٦
التقييم النهائي :***
العلم الغامض...
** ويعرفون الشعور او الوعي أحيانا الفرق بين كونك مستيقظا وكونك نائما ولكن هذا الكلام ليس صحيحا تماما... فالأحلام تأتي نتيجة لتجارب الوعي او الشعور حتي وان كانت هذة التجارب أقل تماسكا في العادة من تجارب اليقظة **
( الشعور _ الوعي _ الذهن) كلمات حاول العلماء والفلاسفة لوقت طويل جدا إيجاد معنى او تعريف او معادلة علمية يستطيعوا ان يحللوا بها تلك الظاهرة الإنسانية... ما بين الفلسفة والعلم والعديد من التجارب العلمية والتفسيرات المعقدة والمدارس والنظريات لازال حتي يومنا هذا فكرة الشعور والوعي واللاوعي افكار غامضة لم يستطع لها العلم سبيلا محددا...
** ولكني اعتبرت العالم المحسوس هو اختلاف من منظورنا الذهني بناء منطقي من معطيات حسية نعيها في ادراكنا الحسي ** (برتراند راسل)
ثالث تجاربي مع سلسلة اقدم لك والاخيرة لقراءات الشهر ليقع اختياري علي كتاب الشعور... تلك الكلمة البسيطة جدا لي كإنسان ومعقدة جدا لدي الفلاسفة والفيزيائيين والمفكرين المؤمنين بمادية كل شئ في العالم... فيحاول الكاتب ان يطرح النظريات التي تناولت وبحثت داخل أسوار العقل البشري وايضا الحيواني.. فا بين الوراثة والمورثات والرياضيات وافكار ديكارت وثنائيته وافكار باركلي واينشاتين والتجارب العلمية التي حاولت فك الغاز العقل كتجربة قط شرودنجر التي تعتبر اشهرهم يقف العلم حائرا مثل تلميذ مجتهد يحاول البحث عن إجابة عن سؤال بسيط جدا ما معنى كلمة انا أشعر....
** الذوات الواعية مخلوقة من نفس الجوهر ولكن الأجسام الإنسانية من الجوهر الاخر... فالذوات هي أنفس غير مادية بينما الأجسام مادية دنيوية ** ( ديكارت)
ربما لم تكن الأمور بتلك البساطة في المحتوى وخاصة ان المحتوى تسعين في المية منه علمي بحت حاول الكاتب ان يبسطه لنا مستعينا بالصور والشروحات المصورة ولكن ذلك لم يمنع شعوري بالتخبط في الأفكار في بعض الأحيان طالبا بمعلومات اكثر كي استوعب تلك النظرية مثلا او هذا المثل... ولذلك قد لا يكون ذلك الكتاب ممتع كسابقيه من السلسلة ولكنه يعتبر خطوة أولى في القراءة عن هذا الموضوع العلمي الغامض...
** فربما يكون الوعي او الشعور هو بعث للحقيقة غير المكانية التي جاءت من حقبة سابقة **
التقييم النهائي ٣ نجوم من ٥
March 25, 2023
Informative and Enjoyable Read
The Introducing Series (Graphic Guides) are a great way of delivering lots of information in an easily digestible way. Some books in the series are better than others it's true. Introducing Consciousness, though not one of the funnier ones (sometimes the graphics and quips are highly entertaining in their own right), is one of the best in terms of information content in my opinion.
I'm currently studying towards a Philosophy and Psychology degree at The OU and my current module is on Philosophy of Mind. Whilst grappling with academic articles, lectures, books, podcasts, videos etc it can be helpful in my experience to get an overview of a particular theme delivered with a healthy dose of sugar to help the medicine go down. This book delivered that for me - simplifying some concepts in a way that actually led to a light bulb moment that helped me revisit set material and gain a much better perspective of the nuance of their meaning.
I've been reading the Introducing Series books since the early ones were actually called For Beginners and were published by Writers and Readers. So glad they still exist, continue to be updated, and that new topics are introduced regularly.
The Introducing Series (Graphic Guides) are a great way of delivering lots of information in an easily digestible way. Some books in the series are better than others it's true. Introducing Consciousness, though not one of the funnier ones (sometimes the graphics and quips are highly entertaining in their own right), is one of the best in terms of information content in my opinion.
I'm currently studying towards a Philosophy and Psychology degree at The OU and my current module is on Philosophy of Mind. Whilst grappling with academic articles, lectures, books, podcasts, videos etc it can be helpful in my experience to get an overview of a particular theme delivered with a healthy dose of sugar to help the medicine go down. This book delivered that for me - simplifying some concepts in a way that actually led to a light bulb moment that helped me revisit set material and gain a much better perspective of the nuance of their meaning.
I've been reading the Introducing Series books since the early ones were actually called For Beginners and were published by Writers and Readers. So glad they still exist, continue to be updated, and that new topics are introduced regularly.
May 10, 2025
"Introducing Consciousness: A Graphic Guide" von David Papineau und Howard Selina
4/5☆
Mein zweites Buch der Introducing-Reihe, was mich in vielen Punkten an den ersten Teil ("Mind and Brain", Rezension dazu ist schon geschrieben) erinnert.
In diesem Buch wird Bewusstsein auf graphische Weise erklärt, wobei nichg nur ein (neuro)biologischer, sondern auch physikalischer und philosophischer Ansatz gewählt wird. Wissenschaftliche Inhalte wurden allgemeinverständlich, aber nicht zu simple erklärt, sowie in Comic-ähnlichen Grafiken dargestellt.
Dabei bleibt mein Kritikpunkt wie beim letzten Buch die Farbe und der zu schwach ausgeprägte Humor. Diesmal fand ich es außerdem seltsam, dass fast auf jeder Seite die gleiche Frau zu sehen war, die aber nie eingeführt wurde, sondern einfach da war.
Außerdem hätte ich mir mehr Neurobiologie gewünscht und nicht gedacht, dass es so philosophisch wird.
Generell war das Buch unglaublich interessant und hat mich echt ins Grübeln gebracht. Die Inhalte gingen über Grundlagenwissen hinaus und ich habe viel Neues gelernt und auch echt nicht alles verstanden. Ich werde mir definitiv mehr Bücher dieser Reihe holen.
4/5☆
Mein zweites Buch der Introducing-Reihe, was mich in vielen Punkten an den ersten Teil ("Mind and Brain", Rezension dazu ist schon geschrieben) erinnert.
In diesem Buch wird Bewusstsein auf graphische Weise erklärt, wobei nichg nur ein (neuro)biologischer, sondern auch physikalischer und philosophischer Ansatz gewählt wird. Wissenschaftliche Inhalte wurden allgemeinverständlich, aber nicht zu simple erklärt, sowie in Comic-ähnlichen Grafiken dargestellt.
Dabei bleibt mein Kritikpunkt wie beim letzten Buch die Farbe und der zu schwach ausgeprägte Humor. Diesmal fand ich es außerdem seltsam, dass fast auf jeder Seite die gleiche Frau zu sehen war, die aber nie eingeführt wurde, sondern einfach da war.
Außerdem hätte ich mir mehr Neurobiologie gewünscht und nicht gedacht, dass es so philosophisch wird.
Generell war das Buch unglaublich interessant und hat mich echt ins Grübeln gebracht. Die Inhalte gingen über Grundlagenwissen hinaus und ich habe viel Neues gelernt und auch echt nicht alles verstanden. Ich werde mir definitiv mehr Bücher dieser Reihe holen.
May 11, 2021
يعتبر ديكارت ثنائياً فقد اعتقد انه يوجد عالمين ولكنها متداخلين ، عالم الذهن وعالم المادة . نظرة ديكارت نفسه لعالم المادة كانت شديدة الصرامة ، فهو قد افترض ان عالم المادة لا يحتوي على شيء الا على مواد في حالة الحركة ، وكل فعل يتم بالتماس . فالالوان والاصوات والروائح ليست موجودة في الاشياء ذاتها ، وانما هي انطباعات تنشأ فينا عن طريق حركة الجزيئات المادية على اعضاء الاحساس .افترض ديكارت وجود عالم منفصل للذهن ، العالم الاخر تملؤه الافكار والعواطف والضغوط والآلام ، وعناصر الوعي هذه لا تشغل شيئا من الخصائص المكانية للمادة وهي الحجم والشكل والحركة .
معظم علماء النظرية الثنائية المعاصرين تبنوا خطًا مختلفاً لمواجهة الاكتمال السببي لعلم الفيزياء فقبلوا ببساطة ، ان الذهن ، بعد كل ذلك ، لا يمارس اي تأثير سببي على العالم المادي .
ان العالم "كريك"طور النظرية التي ترى ان مفتاح الوعي يكمن في النماذج الضاربة للتذبذبات العصبية الموجودة في القشرة المخية للرؤية في المدى ما بين ٣٥ و٧٥ كيلوهيرتز ، وفي نظريته إن الدور المتحد الذي تلعبه الموجات الدماغية التي تصف ادراك الوعي البصري .
معظم علماء النظرية الثنائية المعاصرين تبنوا خطًا مختلفاً لمواجهة الاكتمال السببي لعلم الفيزياء فقبلوا ببساطة ، ان الذهن ، بعد كل ذلك ، لا يمارس اي تأثير سببي على العالم المادي .
ان العالم "كريك"طور النظرية التي ترى ان مفتاح الوعي يكمن في النماذج الضاربة للتذبذبات العصبية الموجودة في القشرة المخية للرؤية في المدى ما بين ٣٥ و٧٥ كيلوهيرتز ، وفي نظريته إن الدور المتحد الذي تلعبه الموجات الدماغية التي تصف ادراك الوعي البصري .
September 19, 2023
This is by far my favourite Introducing series book. It talks about so many things about consciousness--whats is it, and most importantly, from where it arises. It explores everything about dualism to materialism. It gives idea about epiphenomenalism and functionalism too. There are sooo many things I liked about this book. Like Nagel and his 'what is it like to be a bat', David chalmers's 'hard problem of consciousness', kripke's jombie, Wittgenstein's 'the beetle in the box', Frank Jackson's 'marry's room thought experiment', turing test, the chinese room experiment and many more...
It could easily be a five star book if not for those illustrations. Most of them were unnecessary.
Anyone interested about consciousness should pick this one.
It could easily be a five star book if not for those illustrations. Most of them were unnecessary.
Anyone interested about consciousness should pick this one.
March 16, 2018
Before reading this book, I had always thought the whole problem of consciousness,i.e. explaining the relationship between physical event and mental event, was just some misguided excess in the ivory tower of academia. Now I am somehow convinced it's a fascinating subject in it's own right.
I don't usually give a graphic guide more than 3 stars but this one deserves all these 4 stars with its scope, agruments and counter-arguments, clever use of illustrations and, of course, the right balance between accessibility and sophistication.
If only the content was updated beyond the 90s.
The biggest takeaway:
In philosophy, there is this mysterian position to consciousness, which claims the problem of consciousness is beyond our conscious mind and shall remain a mystery, forever.
I don't usually give a graphic guide more than 3 stars but this one deserves all these 4 stars with its scope, agruments and counter-arguments, clever use of illustrations and, of course, the right balance between accessibility and sophistication.
If only the content was updated beyond the 90s.
The biggest takeaway:
In philosophy, there is this mysterian position to consciousness, which claims the problem of consciousness is beyond our conscious mind and shall remain a mystery, forever.
December 28, 2019
Deeply argued positions
The book presents the problem of consciousness and the ways it had been treated throughout history by various philosophers. It lays out some modern views like dualism, functionalism and materialism along with their propositions and criticisms. It also lays out a younger in cheek theory called mysterianism. Lastly it talks about evolutionary, workspace and quantum physical theories along with modern equipment. The author always tries to tackle the consciousness of other animals, aliens, robots and zombies throughout the book. A good read.
The book presents the problem of consciousness and the ways it had been treated throughout history by various philosophers. It lays out some modern views like dualism, functionalism and materialism along with their propositions and criticisms. It also lays out a younger in cheek theory called mysterianism. Lastly it talks about evolutionary, workspace and quantum physical theories along with modern equipment. The author always tries to tackle the consciousness of other animals, aliens, robots and zombies throughout the book. A good read.
October 29, 2025
i’m gonna be so candid i only read this because im doing a class called neural bases of consciousness and i didn’t understand what was happening in there when it came to the philosophy stuff.
this was defo helpful in aiding me in grasping the content but…. its not my jazz! i dont like philosophy.
remind me to check what is required for a minor before i actually take it. anyways im thankful to be free of this subject forever in 48ish hours
good quality book; i just hated every second. fuck you descartes.
this was defo helpful in aiding me in grasping the content but…. its not my jazz! i dont like philosophy.
remind me to check what is required for a minor before i actually take it. anyways im thankful to be free of this subject forever in 48ish hours
good quality book; i just hated every second. fuck you descartes.
October 7, 2018
This book is a hodgepodge collection of theories and concepts regarding consciousness....and though the authors have tried to string things together, it still appeared at many places to be disjointed to me.
Still it is a good introduction and does make you aware of theories and concepts at a superficial level.....the breadth of concepts covered make up for the lack of depth. Illustrations are OK and writing is decent.
Still it is a good introduction and does make you aware of theories and concepts at a superficial level.....the breadth of concepts covered make up for the lack of depth. Illustrations are OK and writing is decent.
January 27, 2025
Good for basics but can be an annoying read
Why does the author insert her self-image into all the visuals? Otherwise, this book provides a good foundation for those seeking a basic understanding. However, the structure could have been better, and the visuals are not very clear (at least on Kindle), which disrupts the reading flow—aside from the previously mentioned issue of the author's insertion.
Why does the author insert her self-image into all the visuals? Otherwise, this book provides a good foundation for those seeking a basic understanding. However, the structure could have been better, and the visuals are not very clear (at least on Kindle), which disrupts the reading flow—aside from the previously mentioned issue of the author's insertion.
October 12, 2018
Useful overview of theories of consciousness but of necessity superficial.
Useful overview of theories of consciousness but of necessity superficial.
Ps the explanation of bl9ndsight is based on an incorrect account of the phenomenon
Useful overview of theories of consciousness but of necessity superficial.
Ps the explanation of bl9ndsight is based on an incorrect account of the phenomenon
March 11, 2020
Great starting point
I'm a real beginner to the subject so this easy to read book is a great starting point. It's probably been superseded by more up to date alternatives however I was happy with this version.
I'm a real beginner to the subject so this easy to read book is a great starting point. It's probably been superseded by more up to date alternatives however I was happy with this version.
May 26, 2017
Quite a good overview of the topic, only a few times does he not fully explain a new concept. Bit outdated now, but I'm not sure how the topic has changed since 2000.
October 27, 2017
A brief and engaging overview and analysis of different philosophical views about consciousness.
December 30, 2017
Terrible illustrations, but so fascinating!
March 11, 2019
This is a great abstract of the current concepts of consciousness. It’s great to see a path through the concepts of consciousness. To be continued.
June 4, 2019
This one lacks the creativity, both in the writing and artwork, of the other "Introducing" books.
December 28, 2019
A good book. Will tell you about the problem of consciousness.
June 17, 2020
Book of confusion
I got confused after reading this book, many theories and definitions are explained in a way one confuses the other
I got confused after reading this book, many theories and definitions are explained in a way one confuses the other
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