1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910780094003321

Autore

Carruthers Peter <1952->

Titolo

Phenomenal consciousness : a naturalistic theory / / Peter Carruthers [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2000

ISBN

1-107-12043-8

0-511-15670-7

0-511-17600-7

0-511-32936-9

1-280-42982-8

0-511-48749-5

0-511-04608-1

0-521-54399-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xx, 347 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

126

Soggetti

Consciousness

Naturalism

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 330-340) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Figures; Preface; 1 Assumptions, distinctions, and a map; 2 Perspectival, subjective, and worldly facts; 3 Explanatory gaps and qualia; 4 Naturalisation and narrow content; 5 First-order representationalism; 6 Against first-order representationalism; 7 Higher-order representationalism: a first defence; 8 Dispositionalist higher-order thought theory (1): function; 9 Dispositionalist higher-order thought theory (2): feel; 10 Phenomenal consciousness and language; 11 Fragmentary consciousness and the Cartesian theatre; Conclusion

ReferencesAuthor index; Subject index

Sommario/riassunto

How can phenomenal consciousness exist as an integral part of a physical universe? How can the technicolour phenomenology of our inner lives be created out of the complex neural activities of our brains? Many have despaired of finding answers to these questions; and many



have claimed that human consciousness is inherently mysterious. Peter Carruthers argues, on the contrary, that the subjective feel of our experience is fully explicable in naturalistic (scientifically acceptable) terms. Drawing on a variety of interdisciplinary resources, he develops and defends a novel account in terms of higher-order thought. He shows that this can explain away some of the more extravagant claims made about phenomenal consciousness, while substantively explaining the key subjectivity of our experience. Written with characteristic clarity and directness, and surveying a wide range of extant theories, this book is essential reading for all those within philosophy and psychology interested in the problem of consciousness.