Description
Rita Carter ponders the nature, origins and purpose of consciousness in this inquiry into the toughest problem facing modern science and philosophy. Building on the foundation of her book “Mapping the Mind”, she considers whether consciousness is merely an illusion, a by-product of our brain’s working, some as yet inexplicable feature or property of the material universe or – as the latest physics may suggest – the very fundament of reality. Little, she discovers, is as it first seems. Carter draws from a solid body of knowledge – empirical findings and theoretical hypotheses – about consciousness, much of it derived from recent discoveries about the brain. Her accessible narrative ranges widely over new ways of thinking about the subject and what direction new research is taking in 2002. Leading scholars from a range of perspectives provide topical essays that complement Carter’s account. The book also discusses how traditional approaches – philosophical, scientific and experiential – might be brought together to create a more complete understanding of consciousness.
