Consciousness is widely viewed as the last frontier of science. Modern science may have split the atom and solved the mystery of life, but it has yet to explain the source of conscious feelings.
Eminent thinkers from many areas of science are turning to this problem, and a wide range of theories are currently on offer. Yet sceptics doubt whether consciousness can be tamed by conventional scientific techniques, and others wonder whether its mysteries can be understood at all.
This book provides a comprehensive guide to the current state of consciousness studies. It starts with the hard problem of the philosophical relation between mind and matter, explains the historical origins of this problem, and traces 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.
This is the perfect introduction for anybody who wants to know all about consciousness but doesn't know where to start.
