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What is a Human Being? When we think of ourselves, we think primarily of our subjective sense of self, our Consciousness, and how does it relate to our Body? Are Mind and Body one and the same thing, Monism, or two separate things, Dualism. This is the "Mind-Body Problem." It is the scientific question of how Consciousness is manifest in the structure of Brain. It is the moral questions regarding abortion and end of life. The answers require an explanation in terms of physics, metaphysics, and history. It is the discussion inside those explanatory fields that has built the gulf between popular intuitive Dualism and the expert Monism. This work presents a clear scientific Dualist model, Mind and Body, as two separate things to answer the question, 'What is a Human Being?'
What is a Human Being? When we think of ourselves, we think primarily of our subjective sense of self, our Consciousness, and how does it relate to our Body? Are Mind and Body one and the same thing, Monism, or two separate things, Dualism. This is the "Mind-Body Problem." It is the scientific question of how Consciousness is manifest in the structure of Brain. It is the moral questions regarding abortion and end of life. The answers require an explanation in terms of physics, metaphysics, and history. It is the discussion inside those explanatory fields that has built the gulf between popular intuitive Dualism and the expert Monism. This work presents a clear scientific Dualist model, Mind and Body, as two separate things to answer the question, 'What is a Human Being?'
For the last four centuries, science has tried to account for everything in terms of atoms and molecules and the physical laws they adhere to. Recently, this effort was extended to try to include the inner world of human beings. Gary Lachman argues that this view of consciousness is misguided and unfounded. He points to another approach to the study and exploration of consciousness that erupted into public awareness in the late 1800s. In this "secret history of consciousness," consciousness is seen not as a result of neurons and molecules, but as responsible for them; meaning is not imported from the outer world, but rather creates it. In this view, consciousness is a living, evolving presence whose development can be traced through different historical periods, and which evolves along a path to a broader, more expansive state. What that consciousness may be like and how it may be achieved is a major concern of this book . Lachman concentrates on the period since the late 1800s, when Madame Blavatsky first brought the secret history out into the open. As this history unfolds, we encounter the ideas of many modern thinkers, from esotericists like P. D. Ouspensky, Rudolf Steiner, and Colin Wilson to more mainstream philosophers like Henri Bergson, William James, Owen Barfield and the psychologist Andreas Mavromatis. Two little known but important thinkers play a major role in his synthesis--Jurij Moskvitin, who showed how our consciousness relates to the mechanisms of perception and to the external world, and Jean Gebser, who presented perhaps the most impressive case for the evolution of consciousness. An important contribution to the study of consciousness ... a must-read. Contents: Foreword by Colin Wilson Introduction: Consciousness Explained The Search for Cosmic Consciousness Esoteric Evolution The Archaeology of Consciousness Participatory Epistemology The Presence of Origin Last Words: Playing for Time Selected Bibliography "A marvelously exhilarating gallop through every important modern theory of consciousness, from Steiner to Maslow, from Bucke's 'cosmic consciousness' to Gebser's 'integral consciousness.'"--Colin Wilson, author of The Outsider and Access to Inner Worlds "Opens up vast vistas of possibility, suggesting that what we experience as the earth may, in itself, be inseparable from our state of mind, and that the evolution of human consciousness may be as fundamental a process as our development through genetics. A must-read for those seeking an escape from our contemporary culture's cul-de-sac."--Daniel Pinchbeck, author of Breaking Open the Head "Thinking outside the box, Lachman challenges many contemporary theories by reinserting a sense of the spiritual back into the discussion. Profoundly erudite, yet easy to read, this book is a provocative mind-stretcher."--Leonard Shlain author of Art & Physics, Alphabet versus the Goddess, and Sex, Time & Power.
There has been an explosion of work on consciousness in the last 30–40 years from philosophers, psychologists, and neurologists. Thus, there is a need for an interdisciplinary, comprehensive volume in the field that brings together contributions from a wide range of experts on fundamental and cutting-edge topics. The Routledge Handbook of Consciousness fills this need and makes each chapter’s importance understandable to students and researchers from a variety of backgrounds. Designed to complement and better explain primary sources, this volume is a valuable "first-stop" publication for undergraduate or graduate students enrolled in any course on "Consciousness," "Philosophy of Mind," or "Philosophy of Psychology," as well as a valuable handbook for researchers in these fields who want a useful reference to have close at hand. The 34 chapters, all published here for the first time, are divided into three parts: Part I covers the "History and Background Metaphysics" of consciousness, such as dualism, materialism, free will, and personal identity, and includes a chapter on Indian philosophy. Part II is on specific "Contemporary Theories of Consciousness," with chapters on representational, information integration, global workspace, attention-based, and quantum theories. Part III is entitled "Major Topics in Consciousness Research," with chapters on psychopathologies, dreaming, meditation, time, action, emotion, multisensory experience, animal and robot consciousness, and the unity of consciousness. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction and concludes with a list of "Related Topics," as well as a list of "References," making the volume indispensable for the newcomer and experienced researcher alike.
According to Russellian monism, an alternative to the familiar theories in the philosophy of mind that combines attractive components of physicalism and dualism, matter has intrinsic properties that both constitute consciousness and serve as categorical bases for the dispositional properties described in physics. Consciousness in the Physical World collects various works on Russellian monism, including historical selections, recent classics, and new pieces. Most chapters are sympathetic with the view, but some are skeptical. Together, they constitute the first book-length treatment of the view itself, its relationship to other theories, its motivations, and its problems.
Winner of the 2012 Godbey Authors' Awards presented by the Godbey Lecture Series in Southern Methodist University's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Living Consciousness examines the brilliant, but now largely ignored, insights of French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859–1941). Presenting a detailed and accessible analysis of Bergson's thought, G. William Barnard highlights how Bergson's understanding of the nature of consciousness and, in particular, its relationship to the physical world remain strikingly relevant to numerous contemporary fields. These range from quantum physics and process thought to philosophy of mind, depth psychology, transpersonal theory, and religious studies. Bergson's notion of consciousness as a ceaselessly dynamic, inherently temporal substance of reality itself provides a vision that can function as a persuasive alternative to mechanistic and reductionistic understandings of consciousness and reality. Throughout the work, Barnard offers "ruminations" or neo-Bergsonian responses to a series of vitally important questions such as: What does it mean to live consciously, authentically, and attuned to our inner depths? Is there a philosophically sophisticated way to claim that the survival of consciousness after physical death is not only possible but likely?
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This monograph examines the metaphysical commitments of the new mechanistic philosophy, a way of thinking that has returned to center stage. It challenges a variant of reductionism with regard to higher-level phenomena, which has crystallized as a default position among these so-called New Mechanists. Furthermore, it opposes those philosophers who reject the possibility of interlevel causation. Contemporary philosophers believe that the explanation of scientific phenomena requires the discovery of relevant mechanisms. As a result, new mechanists are, in the main, concerned solely with epistemological questions. But, the author argues, their most central claims rely on metaphysical assumptions. Thus, they must also take into account metaphysics, a system of thought concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world around it. This branch of philosophy does indeed matter to the empirical sciences. The chapters investigate the nature of mechanisms, their components, and the ways in which they can bring about different phenomena. In addition, the author develops a novel account of causation in terms of activities. The analysis provides the basis for many further research projects on mechanisms and their relations to, for example, the mind-body problem, realization, multiple realization, natural kinds, causation, laws of nature, counterfactuals, and scientific levels.
This study analyses the fifty year evolution of Ervin Laszlo’s contribution to science and philosophy. It records the major turning points in his thinking and discusses who and what influenced this evolution and with what result. Laszlo’s search for answers to questions such as man’s relationship to nature and the cosmos, and the nature of underlying factors of evolution which connect all things were not satisfied by working only on the basis of the General Evolutionary Systems Theory. Wittgenstein said “In every serious philosophical question uncertainty extends to the very roots of the problem. We must always be prepared to learn something totally new.” Laszlo did discover something entirely new – the theory of the information field – after immersing himself in a range of areas of study such as cosmology, consciousness studies, quantum physics, metaphysics and various Eastern traditions. The integration of his earlier works with his more recent studies lies behind his explanation of the existence of the Akashic Field. The Akashic Field is a term that refers to an interactive universe communicating in a subtle manner, which connects everything with every other thing everywhere. This is a pure information field where communication takes place without the need for the transportation of physical energy; thus interaction can occur instantaneously regardless of distance and time. Coherence and consciousness are the bases of Laszlo’s Akashic field. He proposed a ‘system theoretic paradigm’, which focuses on a general understanding of the cosmos and the implications for entities such as human beings. This entails the observation and explanation of human and cosmic evolution as viewed in unity or inter-connectedness where macro and micro are essentially interlinked. Laszlo’s philosophical work extends to sociology when describing concurrent worldwide issues closely related to the existence of the Akashic Field. His humanist ideals are evidenced by his efforts to help humans understand the context and causes for their recent challenges and the possibilities that may lie ahead. Ervin Laszlo’s half-century of exceptional philosophical work gives us the most coherent picture of the nature of the world to date.
Markus Gabriel proposes a radical form of ontological pluralism that divorces ontology from metaphysics, understood as the most fundamental theory of absolutely everything (the world). He argues that the concept of existence is incompatible with the exist