In Consciousness Explained, Daniel C. Dennett reveals the secrets of one of the last remaining mysteries of the universe: the human brain.
Daniel C. Dennett's now-classic book blends philosophy, psychology and neuroscience - with the aid of numerous examples and thought-experiments - to explore how consciousness has evolved, and how a modern understanding of the human mind is radically different from conventional explanations of consciousness.
What people think of as the stream of consciousness is not a single, unified sequence, the author argues, but 'multiple drafts' of reality composed by a computer-like 'virtual machine'.
Dennett explains how science has exploded the classic mysteries of consciousness: the nature of introspection, the self or ego and its relation to thoughts and sensations, the problems posed by qualia, and the level of consciousness of non-human creatures.
'Brilliant ... a torrent of stimulating thought'
Richard Dawkins
'Revolutionary ... one of the most mentally agile, intellectually resourceful books you are likely to read'
Guardian
'A masterful tapestry of deep insights ... Dennett has written a profound and important book that is also clear, exciting and witty'
Douglas R. Hofstadter, author of G del, Escher, Bach
'Extraordinary ... supremely engaging and witty'
Independent
'Dennett's exposition is nothing short of brilliant, the best example I've seen of a science book aimed at both professionals and general readers'
The New York Times Book Review
Daniel C. Dennett is one of the most original and provocative thinkers in the world. A brilliant polemicist and philosopher, he is famous for challenging unexamined orthodoxies, and an outspoken supporter of the Brights movement. His books include Brainstorms, Brainchildren, Elbow Room, Breaking the Spell, Darwin's Dangerous Idea and Freedom Evolves.
Industry Reviews
Maybe not explained. But explored, analyzed, examined from an extraordinarily rich perspective. Here, as in other philosophical work (Elbow Room, 1984, etc.), the Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts Univ. states that he aims to dethrone the "Cartesian Theater" of the mind - that central screen with its implied "Central Meaner" who attends to the "contents of consciousness": the ghost in the machine with all its implied infinite regress and mind/brain dichotomy. Instead, Dennett posits "multiple drafts" of the real world, the product of parallel processing of perceptual and cognitive subsystems compiled by independent "demons" vying with each other, with now one or another gaining ascendancy - the whole a form of "pandemonium" that results in consciousness. In arriving at this model, Dennett reviews the extensive literature of neuroscience, artificial intelligence, neurology, cognitive psychology, speech and language studies, thought experiments, and the philosophical tradition itself. This discourse is well worth the price of admission to Dennett's own theater of the brain: He is a gifted expositor with a marvelous sense of humor, and, typical of philosophers, ever eager to persuade, answer the reader's objectives, and strike down rival theories. Does he succeed? Not completely. One suspects that metaphors based on artificial intelligence, "virtual" machines, and computer technology are just this culture's mind-set at this time. Dennett also pays scant attention to the role of emotions (in comparison to Robert Ornstein, see below), nor for that matter to the emerging concept that the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems should be considered in any schema of consciousness. Nevertheless, Dennett's analysis is so often brilliant, so witty, and so informed by contemporary culture as to make pleasurable the reading of what is truly a complex and demanding text. (Kirkus Reviews)
