The Science of Consciousness [Paperback]

Max Velmans (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415110823 | ISBN-13: 978-0415110822 | Publication Date: May 16, 1996 | Edition: 1

Psychology students are fascinated by consciousness but often find the topic puzzling. This is probably because there are different ways within the discipline to approach it. In The Science of Consciousness, top researchers from each of the three main areas of study introduce their angle and lead the student through the basic debates and research to date, ending with suggestions for further reading.
Max Velmans has structured this collection especially for use as a base for a course of lectures or seminars on consciousness. The Science of Consciousness will rapidly become known as the best student text in this field for undergraduates, graduates and lecturers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The book presents the reader with a series of clearly written chapters that deal with crucial and often difficult questions with clarity and in an engaging form which at the same time do not sacrifice rigour ... I hope to come across more books of this sort, which are capable of transmitting enthusiasm for psychology both as a searching evidence based discipline and one that will engage with important questions -- Psychology Teaching Review

There's ever delight in praise and this book deserves a lot of praise. Velmans has assembled a constellation of luminaries, many of them professors of psychology, who have given us one of the best available surveys of contemporary, scientific mainstream thinking about consciousness.(Journal of Consciousness Studies, 3(5/6), 1996) -- (Journal of Consciousness Studies, 3(5/6), 1996) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Max Velmans is currently a Reader in Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has around 50 publications on consciousness including two new books: "Understanding Consciousness" (Routledge, April 2000) and the edited "Investigating Phenomenal Consciousness" (John Benjamins, October 2000). He is a frequent speaker at international conferences in this area and has developed a course on "The Psychology of Consciousness" for over 20 years. Further details, on-line papers etc., available at http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/academic/ps/velmans.htm --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (May 16, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415110823
• ISBN-13: 978-0415110822
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,125,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great collection., July 23, 2002

By 

Roger I. Camara Lemarroy "macacox" (monterrey, nuevo leon Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Science of Consciousness (Hardcover)

This is a good collection of papers on the science of consciousness. Anyone interested on the field, or someone familiar with it, will find nothing terribly new, except perhaps the clinical papers, those dealing with the placebo effect and somatic consequences of consciousness. This would be a much better introductory text than an original contribution in general.

The introduction is about average. Papers on perception without awareness and consciousness in relation to memory and learning are quite good. Bernard Baars presents his cognitive theory of consciousness again. Then are the two really good papers, the jewels, one by Libet discussing neural correlates of consicousness, and a review of neuropsychology and dissociation in consciousness by A. Young, one of the best yet. Then there are the before mentioned papers on clinical matters, the often ignored section in consciousness studies. Max Velmans writes some philosophy of consciousness, and proposes a reflexive model, which I think was a little confusing, for mixing up phenomenology and objectivity. For example, for him pain is in the finger that hurts, not in the brain. But he admits the correlates and presumably mechanisms of pain are in the brain. He holds that pain is in the finger that hurts in a strange pseudo-phenomenological sense.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good collection., July 23, 2002

By 

Carlos Camara "marrorris2" (Monterrey, Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Science of Consciousness (Hardcover)

This is a good collection of papers on the science of consciousness. Anyone interested on the field, or someone familiar with it, will find nothing terribly new, except perhaps the clinical papers, those dealing with the placebo effect and somatic consequences of consciousness. This would be a much better introductory text than an original contribution in general.

The introduction is about average. Papers on perception without awareness and consciousness in relation to memory and learning are quite good. Bernard Baars presents his cognitive theory of consciousness again. Then are the two really good papers, the jewels, one by Libet discussing neural correlates of consicousness, and a review of neuropsychology and dissociation in consciousness by A. Young, one of the best yet. Then there are the before mentioned papers on clinical matters, the often ignored section in consciousness studies. Max Velmans writes some philosophy of consciousness, and proposes a reflexive model, which I think was a little confusing, for mixing up phenomenology and objectivity. For example, for him pain is in the finger that hurts, not in the brain. But he admits the correlates and presumably mechanisms of pain are in the brain. He holds that pain is in the finger that hurts in a strange pseudo-phenomenological sense.