Brain, Self and Consciousness: Explaining the Conspiracy of Experience (Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality Book 3)

This book discusses consciousness from the perspectives of neuroscience, neuropsychiatry and philosophy. It develops a novel approach in consciousness studies by charting the pathways in which the brain challenges the self and the self challenges the brain. The author argues that the central issue in brain studies is to explain the unity, continuity, and adherence of experience, whether it is sensory or mental awareness, phenomenal- or self-consciousness. To address such a unity is to understand mutual challenges that the brain and the self pose for each other. The fascinating discussions that this book presents are: How do the brain and self create the conspiracy of experience where the physicality of the brain is lost in the subjectivity of the self? This book discusses consciousness from the perspectives of neuroscience, neuropsychiatry and philosophy. It develops a novel approach in consciousness studies by charting the pathways in which the brain challenges the self and the self challenges the brain. The author argues that the central issue in brain studies is to explain the unity, continuity, and adherence of experience, whether it is sensory or mental awareness, phenomenal- or self-consciousness. To address such a unity is to understand mutual challenges that the brain and the self pose for each other. The fascinating discussion that this book presents is: How do the brain and self create the conspiracy of experience where the physicality of the brain is lost in the subjectivity of the self? Front Matter....Pages i-xi The Problematic of Consciousness: An Introduction....Pages 1-17 Brain and the Self....Pages 19-36 Beginnings: Biological and Philosophical Accounts of Consciousness....Pages 37-60 The Not-So-Rigid Brain: Philosophical Riddles and Experiential Ironies....Pages 61-85 Body-Sense and Self-Sense: Why is Minimalism Insufficient?....Pages 87-115 Boundaries of Self: Displacement, Meaning and Purpose....Pages 117-137 The Feel Factor: Qualia and the Affective Markers of Experience....Pages 139-169 Being and Wellbeing: You, Me and Our Free Will....Pages 171-185 Beyond the Brain: The Final Frontiers of Consciousness....Pages 187-208 Back Matter....Pages 209-214 "This book discusses consciousness from the perspectives of neuroscience, neuropsychiatry and philosophy. The author argues that the central issue in brain studies is to explain the unity, continuity, and adherence of experience, whether it is sensory or mental awareness, phenomenal- or self-consciousness. The fascinating discussion that this book presents is: How do the brain and self create the conspiracy of experience where the physicality of the brain is lost in the subjectivity of the self?"--Page 4 of cover This book discusses consciousness from the perspectives of neuroscience, neuropsychiatry and philosophy. The author argues that the central issue in brain studies is to explain the unity, continuity, and adherence of experience, whether it is sensory or mental awareness, phenomenal- or self-consciousness. The fascinating discussion that this book presents is: How do the brain and the self create the conspiracy of experience where the physicality of the brain is lost in the subjectivity of the self?