The Crucible of Consciousness: An Integrated Theory of Mind and Brain [Paperback]

Zoltan Torey (Author), Daniel C. Dennett (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2009 | ISBN-10: 026251284X | ISBN-13: 978-0262512848 | Edition: Reprint

We are material beings in a material world, but we are also beings who have experiences and feelings. How can these subjective states be just a matter of matter? Philosophical materialists have formulated what is sometimes called "the phenomenal concept strategy" (which holds that we possess a range of special concepts for classifying the subjective aspects of our experiences) to defend materialism. In Consciousness Revisited, philosopher Michael Tye, until now a proponent of the approach, argues that the phenomenal concept strategy is mistaken. A rejection of phenomenal concepts leaves the materialist with the task of finding some other strategy for defending materialism. Tye points to four major puzzles of consciousness that arise: How is it possible for Mary, in the famous thought experiment, to make a discovery when she leaves her black-and-white room? In what does the explanatory gap consist and how can it be bridged? How can the hard problem of consciousness be solved? How are zombies possible? Tye presents solutions to these puzzles--solutions that relieve the pressure on the materialist created by the failure of the phenomenal concept strategy. In doing so, he discusses and makes new proposals on a wide range of issues, including the nature of perceptual content, the conditions necessary for consciousness of a given object, the proper understanding of change blindness, the nature of phenomenal character and our awareness of it, whether we have privileged access to our own experiences, and, if we do, in what such access consists.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The world view of the blind and that of the sighted is likely different, shaped by the distinct perceptual experience and the brain plasticity involved in adaptation to the loss of sight. Zoltan Torey is blind. I cannot but believe that this fact has endowed him with the needed vision to address the complex relation between brain and mind. Zoltan Torey writes with the needed eloquence, freshness, and originality that assures readers will be moved to think, and will understand not only what is being said, but also gain new insights about themselves and others."-Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, and Director, Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

"Torey's way of putting things sheds new light on just what is going on in the 'computational' brain, since he has to find alternative metaphors to stand in for the now somewhat overworked comparison with computers. Just as poets often find that the constraints of rhyme and meter force them to discover strikingly apt expressions of their thoughts, it turns out that couching a computational theory of the mind in resolutely noncomputational terms pays dividends. There is much to repay readers in this book: to the uninitiated, it is a graceful and wise introduction to many of the central problems and arguments; to the veterans, it is a quite bountiful source of arrestingly different slants on familiar topics."--Daniel C. Dennett, Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, Tufts University and author of Sweet Dreams

(Daniel C. Dennet )

About the Author

Zoltan Torey is a clinical psychologist and an independent scholar.

Daniel C. Dennett is University Professor and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. He is the author of Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness (MIT Press) and other books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; Reprint edition (April 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 026251284X
• ISBN-13: 978-0262512848
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #418,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #81 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Research

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A flawed but deeply thought provoking book March 6, 2011

By Bernard Sumption

Format:Paperback

First the bad: this book is written in a dense academic style, in which the author first defines terms and then uses them heavily in future sentences. This quickly builds up and you get phrases like "the protolinguistic instrument facilitated percept transshipment" (i.e. the precursor to modern language helped our ancestors to convey ideas to each other)

This wouldn't be a problem in itself, but I get the impression that the dense style sometimes hides errors in reasoning. After decoding one paragraph I think that the author was implying that the frustration felt by our ancestors when they had only a limited language ability would create a selection pressure to evolve a better language ability. Of course this is not how natural selection works: natural selection doesn't care about our frustration, only how many offspring we have. Was the author really implying this? I don't know, perhaps his real intention was lost in the decoding process.

Now the good:

Normally I'd give a book two stars for this kind of language, but I'm giving it 4 instead. Why? Because despite its flaws, the fact remains that it presents a fresh view on the brain/mind problem, with many genuinely insightful points that are not available in any other books I've read.

Fans of Pinker, Dennett and Dawkins, to name a few capable science writers who touch on the same topics, will despair at the lack of clear, plain English explanation and reasoning. Fans of the study of the human brain will gladly look past the flaws and enjoy a novel and exciting theory of how the mind works.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars and the blind will see July 3, 2009

By Charles Perkinson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you are at all curious about how your brain thinks, how it is conscious and self aware, then you should definitely read this book!
Zoltan Torey, though blind, provides keen insight into how the human brain uses language to bind words in our 'left brain' with perceptions in our 'right brain', and how this asymetric functioning of the hemispheres give rise to thought and consciousness.
Without language, no distinction in made, in the nonhuman brain, between the 'real world' and perception. We humans are able to use language (thoughts) to invoke perceptions at will, and this gives us the sensation that we are unique and separate from the world.
Zoltran Torey is the 'left brain' to Douglas Hofstadter's 'right' in articulating the 'strange loop' of consciousness.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rational Thesis on Consciousness May 17, 2010

By David Hillstrom

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

A great deal has been written on the subject of human consciousness. Historically philosophers have debated the question from almost every conceivable perspective. Many philosophers still today refer to issues of consciousness and free will as `the hard problem.' In recent years though more and more substantive and weighty work has been written that supports the growing evidence: "Consciousness is a biological phenomenon. The concept of a dualistic, spiritual, separate plane of reality is a myth." The most successful work on the problem in my own view has been coming from the field of neurology and not from contemporary philosophy (although I do enjoy Dennett's books on the subject). Torey's book, The Crucible of Consciousness, falls into this progressive category alongside the work of scientists such as Damasio and Le Doux.

In this intense and well researched book Torey presents a unique and testable theory of consciousness. His thesis is that consciousness originates in the asymmetry between the right and left hemispheres of the human brain, which is the result of language acquisition. This theory is both interesting and plausible and should help to guide further research. At the same time, as one would expect, it raises a number of observations and questions. Perhaps mentioning just a few here will offer some insight into the challenges that the book raises. First and foremost Torey suggests that language is essential to consciousness. He therefore draws a distinction between animal awareness and conscious thought, but also between problem solving or even primitive tool use and reflective thinking. In some degree this view is consistent with scientific consensus, but not entirely so. Second, the acquisition of language by children and the process termed cross-lateralization of the brain by psycholinguists (which takes place during puberty) afford opportunities to test Torey's theory. He includes a chapter on child acquisition of language but not on cross lateralization. According to Torey language evolution began with a protolanguage of a few nouns and verbs. However, consciousness requires the full package of language with qualifying words, abstract concepts and syntax in order to complete the structural asymmetry characteristic of human brains. As he explains the secondary evolution of language, though, it appears as a rather simple, almost automatic response. Yet archaeology suggests that the process took thousands of years (perhaps more than a million).

There is one further area of interest that I feel is worth mentioning. Torey details a critique of those champions of artificial intelligence who wish to draw parallels between AI and human consciousness. Personally I side with Torey on this matter and not with Dennett (who has written a brief introduction for the book). As I describe in The Bridge, human thinking and computer operations are qualitatively different. A `conscious computer' would need to reconcile a rather large gap. For computers to demonstrate consciousness would require a link between computing and a sense of self awareness. The computer would also need to acquire an instinct for survival and a capacity for thought via metaphor. Humans acquired these characteristics through millions of years of evolution. While I wouldn't rule out the possibility of AI, it remains clear to me that these three characteristics are essential ingredients. And enhancing computers with these traits seems still to present quite a challenge.

Although the author says at the outset that most of the book is accessible to the general reader, the text throughout is demanding. It is however richly rewarding and well worth the effort. I might quibble with some details, such as Torey's use of the term `instinctual' in discussing animal behaviour, but no comments would detract from the book's unique perspective and valuable insights.

David Hillstrom
Author