Consciousness Reconsidered

Consciousness is neither miraculous nor ultimately mysterious. In this broad,entertaining, and persuasive account Owen Flanagan argues that we are on the way to understandingconsciousness and its place in the natural order. No aspect of consciousness escapes Flanagan'sprobe. Qualia, self-consciousness, autobiographical memory, perceptions, sensations, the stream ofconsciousness, disorders such as blindsight, various kinds of amnesia, and multiple personality allfind a place in a constructive theory that brings into reflective equilibrium insights from a widearray of disciplines to reveal the deep, rich, and complex hidden structure ofconsciousness.Flanagan roams freely through a variety of scientific and philosophical domains,showing how it is possible to understand human consciousness in a way that gives its subjective,phenomenal aspects their full due while at the same time taking into account the neural bases ofsubjectivity. The result is a powerful synthetic theory of consciousness, a "constructivenaturalism," according to which subjective consciousness is real, plays an important causal role,and resides in the brain.Flanagan draws the reader into a world of exciting current debates amongsuch philosophers as Thomas Nagel, Daniel Dennett, Paul Churchland, Patricia Churchland, and ColinMcGinn, and he makes this world accessible. He masterfully weaves the latest insights from theoryand research in cognitive neuroscience, neural darwinism, connectionist brain architecture, and PETscanners to reveal clear links between events that "seem a certain way" and underlying neuralactivity. William James's famous phenomenological analysis of consciousness and neurologicallyimpaired characters from the writings of Oliver Sacks and A. R. Luria join the narrative, providingvaluable insights into important current controversies on the relation of consciousness to self.OwenFlanagan is Class of 1919 Professor of Philosophy at Wellesley College.

Owen Flanagan is James B. Duke Professor of Philosophy at Duke University. He is the author of Consciousness Reconsidered (MIT Press), The Problem of the Soul: Two Visions of Mind and How to Reconcile Them, and other books.