![]({"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/412JoMEwe8L._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg":[333,499],"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/412JoMEwe8L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg":[231,346]})
Chalmers' earlier book The Conscious Mind. In Search of a Fundamental Theory (1996) was widely reviewed and praised. This new book may be viewed partly as a sequel; however, much of it consists of essays published earlier but updated to incorporate changes in Chalmers' ideas over the years, as well as providing smoother transitions between the 14 chapters. Some readers may be put off by this duplication, but I was happy to have everything easily available in one place and to hear of Chalmers' latest thoughts. I awarded five stars based on his excellent in-depth treatments of several areas of central interest to me even though other parts of the book may be read only by professional philosophers. Warning: If you are new to consciousness studies, this book is probably not the place to start.
Neuroscientist Christof Koch suggests that scientists should pay close attention to questions posed by philosophers, but not take their answers too seriously. This may be good general advice, but for me, Chalmers does an excellent job of presenting a plausible spectrum of prevailing metaphysical views labeled Types A-C (reductionist) and D-F (non reductionist) with his strongest arguments favoring the latter. He suggests, for example, that information may play a critical role in a theory of consciousness in addition to its known importance in the physical sciences (more on this later). Related to this informational conjecture is a chapter employing the popular movie The Matrix to address issues concerning our knowledge of the external world. Several additional themes run throughout (in my words), consciousness seems to be a fundamental property of our universe, reductive theories don't seem to work, one should not confuse neural correlates of consciousness with consciousness itself, such correlations fail to even come close to "explaining" consciousness, and science is essentially correlative rather than reductive. As a scientist (brain physics), I especially welcomed this latter idea, which seems to be poorly understood by many, including some scientists.
Chalmers also provides a plausible argument supporting "the principle of organizational invariance" meaning that any two systems with the same fine grained functional organization will have qualitatively identical experiences, implying that a silicon isomorph (say a computer yielding a one-to-one functional correspondence of all parts at all spatial scales) of a human must be conscious. While I accept Chalmers' basic logical argument, its conclusion may be highly misleading. For example, some believe that connecting 10 billion or so neuron-like artificial elements following appropriate input-output rules can produce a conscious entity. The problem with this conjecture is that the construction of true artificial isomorphs may be fundamentally impossible. Even single neurons are incredibly complex systems involving fine grained interactions down to (at least) quantum scales, and cross scale interactions are a hallmark of complex systems. This idea is discussed in Al Scott's Stairway to the Mind: The Controversial New Science of Consciousness(1995) and my new book (2010), which also explores the conjecture that information (or a broader category, Ultra-Information) may underlie both the physical and mental worlds, an idea apparently consistent with Chalmers' suggestion.
- Series: Philosophy of Mind
- Paperback: 624 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (October 28, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0195311116
- ISBN-13: 978-0195311112
- Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 6.1 x 9.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Average Customer Review: 14 customer reviews
-
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#745,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1368 in Consciousness & Thought Philosophy
- #2120 in Medical Cognitive Psychology
- #2374 in Neurology (Books)
Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?
