Dialogues on Consciousness

by Riccardo Manzotti, Tim Parks

Over a period of many years, the celebrated English novelist Tim Parks and the Italian philosopher Riccardo Manzotti have been discussing the nature of consciousness. Not long ago, Parks suggested to his friend that they condense their exchanges “into a series of focused dialogues to set out the standard positions on consciousness, and suggest some alternatives.” Fifteen of the resultant conversations were edited by Parks and published in The New York Review of Books online—one of its most popular features ever.

Now collected into one slim but thought-provoking volume, the dialogues reveal the profound scholarship of the two men. Their talks touch upon Aristotle and William James, the Higgs Boson and Descartes, and include topics such as “Where Are Words?”, “The Body and Us”, “The Reality of Dreams”, “The Object of Consciousness”, and finally “Consciousness: What Is It?”. For those of us searching for insight into some of life’s most basic puzzles—how do we think? how do we perceive one another, and ourselves?—Dialogues on Consciousness will take its place alongside other classics of philosophy.

148 pages • Paperback ISBN 978-1-68219-224-5 • E-book 978-1-68219-226-9

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Neuroscience

186 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

"Born in Parma, Italy, in 1969, Manzotti received his PhD from the University of Genova in 2001, and is currently a professor of theoretical philosophy at the IULM University (Milan). He has been Fulbright Visiting Scholar at MIT (Boston).
Manzotti originally specialized in robotics and AI where he started to wonder how can matter have experience of the surrounding world. Eventually he has been a psychologist from 2004 to 2015 and then he has become a full time philosopher."
(From: https://www.riccardomanzotti.com/about/)

Reviews

[Jeffrey Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This'll blow your mind ...er...experience.

[Yahya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bilince Farklı Bir Bakış..
Kitap yazar Tim Parks ve filozof aynı zamanda psikolog Ricardo Manzotti'nin bilinç üzerine diyaloglarından oluşuyor. Daha doğrusu daha çok Ricardo Manzotti kendi bilinç teorisini anlatıyor. Günümüzde var olan yaygın bilinç teorilerinin -bilincin beynimizin içinde olduğunu savunan teoriler- aksine, Manzotti bilincin beynimizin içinde var olmadığını dışarda olduğunu savunuyor. Buna da zihin-nesne teorisi adını veriyor. Zihin nesne teorisinde, bilinç dediğimiz şeyin bedenimizin dış dünya ile yaşadığı her türlü ilişki ve bunun sonucundaki deneyimden ibaret olduğunu ifade ediyor. Hepimiz bedenlerimiz birer nesneyiz. Bunun sonucunda dış dünyadaki nesneler ile ilişkimiz deneyimlerimizi oluşturuyor. Bilinç dediğimiz şey bundan ibaret. Teori özetle bununla ilgili.
Kitabı Vedat Milor bir videosunda önermişti. Oradan öğrenip alıp okudum.Benim açımdan farklı bir deneyim oldu. Farklı bir bakış açısına sahip. Bilince ilgi duyanlar için önerebilirim.

[Cal Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful. It is a written discussion between Parks and Manzotti on the nature of consciousness. We don't encounter this form of philosophical literature too often in today's world, but for me a dialogue is at the heart of philosophy. Manzotti has an unique contribution to this field, arguing rather than internal, consciousness is about the external; our relationship to the world is the heart of conscious experience.

A fascinating read and really deep food for thought. For a smaller book, this has a profound amount of depth. Cannot sing the praises of this small work loudly enough.

[Cem]

Tavsiye edilir. Ufuk açıcı ve kafa bulandırıcı.

[Suzan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duygular nerde onu demediler, ama gerisini anladım, blade runner 2049 merdivenleri.

[Cengeles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Psikoloji konularındaki ufuk açıcı anlatım bir yana, eleştirel düşünce ürünü soru örnekleri için harika bir kaynak.