The Conscious Mind
In Search of a Fundamental Theory
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Narrated by:
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George Cunningham
About this listen
What is consciousness? How do physical processes in the brain give rise to the self-aware mind and to feelings as profoundly varied as love or hate, aesthetic pleasure or spiritual yearning? These questions today are among the most hotly debated issues among scientists and philosophers, and we have seen in recent years superb volumes by such eminent figures as Francis Crick, Daniel C. Dennett, Gerald Edelman, and Roger Penrose, all firing volleys in what has come to be called the consciousness wars. Now, in The Conscious Mind, philosopher David J. Chalmers offers a cogent analysis of this heated debate as he unveils a major new theory of consciousness, one that rejects the prevailing reductionist trend of science, while offering provocative insights into the relationship between mind and brain.
Writing in a rigorous, thought-provoking style, the author takes us on a far-reaching tour through the philosophical ramifications of consciousness. Chalmers convincingly reveals how contemporary cognitive science and neurobiology have failed to explain how and why mental events emerge from physiological occurrences in the brain. He proposes instead that conscious experience must be understood in an entirely new light - as an irreducible entity (similar to such physical properties as time, mass, and space) that exists at a fundamental level and cannot be understood as the sum of its parts. And after suggesting some intriguing possibilities about the structure and laws of conscious experience, he details how his unique reinterpretation of the mind could be the focus of a new science. Throughout the book, Chalmers provides fascinating thought experiments that trenchantly illustrate his ideas. For example, in exploring the notion that consciousness could be experienced by machines as well as humans, Chalmers asks us to imagine a thinking brain in which neurons are slowly replaced by silicon chips that precisely duplicate their functions - as the neurons are replaced, will consciousness gradually fade away? The book also features thoughtful discussions of how the author's theories might be practically applied to subjects as diverse as artificial intelligence and the interpretation of quantum mechanics.
All of us have pondered the nature and meaning of consciousness. Engaging and penetrating, The Conscious Mind adds a fresh new perspective to the subject that is sure to spark debate about our understanding of the mind for years to come.
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Epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge. Without knowledge, scientific enquiry is meaningless and we can’t analyse the world around us. But what exactly is knowledge and how do we obtain it? Should we trust our senses? When is belief knowledge? Presuming no prior experience, Robert Martin covers everything in the topic from scepticism and induction to Kant’s transcendentalism. Clear and readable, this audiobook is essential for philosophy students and a much needed introduction for the general reader.
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Going to hear it again
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By: Robert M. Martin
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The Landscape of History
- How Historians Map the Past
- By: John Lewis Gaddis
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
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What is history, and why should we study it? Is there such a thing as historical truth? Is history a science? One of the most accomplished historians at work today, John Lewis Gaddis, answers these and other questions in this short, witty, and humane book. The Landscape of History provides a searching look at the historian's craft as well as a strong argument for why a historical consciousness should matter to us today.
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Excellent Book!
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There Is a God
- How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind
- By: Antony Flew, Roy Abraham Varghese - contributor
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
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In There Is a God, one of the world's preeminent atheists discloses how his commitment to "follow the argument wherever it leads" led him to a belief in God as Creator. This is a compelling and refreshingly open-minded argument that will forever change the atheism debate.
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Disappointing
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Hidden Dimensions
- The Unification of Physics and Consciousness
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- Narrated by: Stow Lovejoy
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Bridging the gap between the world of science and the realm of the spiritual, Wallace, a pioneer of modern consciousness research, offers a practical and revolutionary method for exploring the mind that combines the keenest insights of contemporary physics and philosophers with the time-honored meditative traditions of Buddhism.
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Great companion piece to Anathem by Stephenson
- By Kal on 02-20-09
By: B. Alan Wallace
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Freedom Evolves
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Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly original arguments - drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and philosophy - that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally.
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I knew I was going to like this book
- By Gary on 05-30-14
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The Problems of Philosophy
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The Problems of Philosophy discusses Bertrand Russell's views on philosophy and the problems that arise in the field. Russell's views focus on knowledge rather than the metaphysical realm of philosophy. The Problems with Philosophy revolves around the central question that Russell asks in his opening line of Chapter 1 - Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it?
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Either be smart or be not smart
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The Quantum and the Lotus
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When Matthieu Ricard and Trinh Thuan met at an academic conference in the summer of 1997, they began discussing the many remarkable connections between the teachings of Buddhism and the findings of recent science. That conversation grew into an astonishing correspondence exploring a series of fascinating questions. Did the universe have a beginning? Might our perception of time in fact be an illusion, a phenomenon created in our brains that has no ultimate reality? What is consciousness and how did it evolve?
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The
- By willmit on 05-02-21
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The Grand Biocentric Design
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What is consciousness? Why are we here? Where did it all come from - the laws of nature, the stars, the universe? Humans have been asking these questions forever, but science hasn't succeeded in providing many answers - until now. In The Grand Biocentric Design, Robert Lanza, one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People", is joined by theoretical physicist Matej Pavšic and astronomer Bob Berman to shed light on the big picture that has long eluded philosophers and scientists alike.
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Should be in the fiction section.
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Refreshing and concise
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The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
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A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were - and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book.
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The problem is not with the book
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Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
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The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Logical Philosophical Treatise or Treatise on Logic and Philosophy) is the only full-length philosophical book by the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein that was published during his lifetime. The goal of the work is to identify the relationship between language and reality and to define the limits of science. He famously summarized the book in the following way: "What can be said at all can be said clearly; and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence."
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This book is pure gold
- By Notes of a dirty old fart on 05-24-20
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What listeners say about The Conscious Mind
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Chris
- 12-19-23
I really wanted to like it
First of all, I wish Chalmers could have narrated this himself. The narrator felt disconnected from the subject and was quite monotone, which did not help me connect with the information. I spend a fair amount of time studying this subject, so I am not unfamiliar with its vocabulary and concepts. I found this book very difficult to follow and digest. I am probably just not educated enough to comprehend Chalmers intellect, but his delivery and ability to explain his examples were of little use to me.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-07-21
Lots of problems with the recording.
I don't know if it was corrupted as I downloaded it or if it was a problem of the original recording, but there were a lot of skips, enough that at points the book became hard to follow, which not what you want in a dense philosophy book.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Oliver
- 09-22-21
Essential knowledge
I'm giving this book 5 stars because it covers THE keystone contribution to modern consciousness studies. Chalmers' Hard Problem of Consciousness, whether you accept or reject it, forms the epicenter of the field. It is the reference point by which scholars in the field orient themselves. No theory of consciousness is complete unless it contends with the ideas in this book by supporting, refining or rejecting them.
***However, the recording quality of the book is abysmal (the editor often splices takes together so that the transitions are audible, and temporally misaligned). Additionally, the book itself is rather rambling. Chalmers should really write a more condensed and digestible boom about his main claim to fame.**
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6 people found this helpful
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- SelfishWizard
- 11-16-21
Chalmers' search for Consciousness
David Chalmers' extravagant philosophy of consciousness begins with philosophical zombies who do everything we do but are not conscious. This is a fatal flaw. Such philosophical zombies are not only impossible but inconceivable. They are a contradiction in terms. If you could have zombies that can do what humans do without consciousness, then you don't need consciousness because it doesn't do anything. So Chalmers' search for consciousness begins with the fundamental premise that consciousness is epiphenomenal and cannot act on the physical world. This clearly makes no sense. Everything we do is driven by our conscious awareness and our unconscious motivations. That's why we have consciousness. Having dismissed consciousness, Chalmers asserts that consciousness is a great mystery. But the mystery exists only in Chalmers' head. Consciousness is ubiquitous among living beings,. They could not survive without it, because they would not know what to do without it. Consciousness evolved in living things to enable them to navigate the world. Without being aware of the world we could not survive in it.
Chalmers is a mind-body duelist based on his view of the separation between consciousness and the physical world. At the same time he believes that consciousness emerges from the organization of the physical world. He therefore does not limit consciousness to living things that have need of it to survive. He instead believes that mechanical systems such as thermostats may be conscious. It appears to be lost on him that this is self contradictory. If consciousness emerges from the physical world then why should it not be able to interact with the physical world to cause action and behavior in it? Chalmers cannot explain this and does not try to. But he is interested in extending his zombie argument to say that consciousness can be a property of machines. But if consciousness doesn't do anything in humans it would be hard to imagine what purpose it would possibly have in a machine such as a thermostat or computer.
Chalmers can have faith in conscious artificial intelligence because he believes consciousness is ubiquitous not just in living things but in the Universe at large. He therefore is sympathetic to panpsychism (the belief that consciousness is an integral property of the universe) although he seems finally reluctant to fully commit to it,. Chalmers then goes on to say he believes in Everett's interpretation of quantum mechanics that is the basis of the "Many Worlds" interpretation of QM. Yet Chalmers then confusingly says he disagrees with Many Worlds and subscribes to a "one world" interpretation of Everett's hypothesis. Yet every physicist who is an "Everettian (e.g., Sean Carroll) believes in Many Worlds.
And all of this is based on Chalmers' not only flawed but frankly inconceivable philosophical zombie thought experiment. In short, Chalmers is a property duelist, a panpsychist, an Everettian (but one who believes in one world) and a believer in machine consciousness. You can't make this stuff up, Yet Chalmers obviously managed to. Unfortunately, his theory is incoherent, self-contradictory, and based on mere assertions rather than logical argument.
Chalmers is charismatic and a dynamic speaker on the podcast and lecture circuit. People like listening to him even when what he is saying makes very little sense.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Karianne Newton
- 05-05-23
NOT the narrator for this type of book.
Couldnt get past the first chapter. The choice of narrator is sooo wrong. He may be good for otger types of books like fiction or romance but not this.
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- Siakzar Moayedi
- 07-28-23
Not excepted
It’s a book for philosophers and Psychologists
Both too advance and constant repetition
May be best for a college courses
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- Jose Perez
- 04-30-24
I need this book read by a different voice actor
The voice over actor wasn't for me, I couldn't pay attention to the concepts because he sounds like he is reading a theater play script. I couldn't finish the book because of it. I need to have another voice in order to enjoy and finish this book.
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- LL Kings
- 01-05-24
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- Tennisartist85
- 07-05-24
Needlessly loft language hiding dubious argument
The introduction provides a useful summary of some of the leading theories about consciousness, and the setup appeared promising. But, there are clear issues with his approach to burden of proof and his presumptions about what constitutes a self-evident argument. Things really fall apart during the chapter on supervenience. Whether any arguments are capable of holding water is hard to assess, given how many clear counter points are never reasonably addressed.
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- Farhad Taghibakhsh
- 09-12-23
With knowledge it helped a bit, with wasting time it helped a lot!
I didn’t give this book a low rating because I’m against the presented materials in it, but because the book suffers from two main issues most discussions on consciousness suffer from:
1) pack of clarity in problem definition: It tries to discuss a matter (consciousness) and yet does not present a clear definition of the problem first
2) Forging assumptions as thought experiments! A great number of presented “thought experiments” are basically simple assumptions. Like the zombie model.
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