Pluralism and the Mind - Imprint Academic

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Given that consciousness is poorly understood and vaguely defined, Paul Feyerabend's advice to "keep our options open" seems sound, but is frequently ignored in favour of an insistence that a scientific theory of consciousness must be reducible to current monist physics and biology. This book argues that such an insistence is historically unsupportable, theoretically incoherent and unnecessary. The author instead makes the case for emergent property pluralism. New concepts of emergent mental properties are needed because of the failure of mainstream approaches satisfactorily to address issues like subjective volition, autonomy and creativity. Personal consciousness is active and classifiable as a subset of the wider problem of biological causation. The book is split into three sections. Part one builds an historical case for pluralism. Part two deconstructs insistent monism and mainstream models before addressing biological causation. Part three explores the consequences of such an alternative approach by examining specific phenomena like free will, the self and evolutionary emergence.
Nov 9, 2011

Source: Paranormalia

Credit: Robert McLuhan

"Colborn starts by showing us how wildly incongruent such confident assertions seem in the face of very different types of conscious activity, from the typical stream of thoughts and impressions in daily life... In my view, this is science writing of the first order".

Source: Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. 73.1, No. 894.

Credit: Robert A Charman

"How you try to explain the relationship depends upon how you define it, and that depends upon your personal belief system — or worldview — as to the true nature of this universe and our place in it... Each material brain naturally generates 'mental processes', including 'consciousness', at a particular level of coordinated brain processing... [T]his is a meticulously researched, well written and insightful review of modern Western theories and Buddhist thought... This book deserves a wide readership."

Source: Journal of Scientific Exploration

Credit: Stan V McDaniel

"Now along comes Matthew Colborn to resolve the issue, in at least a tentative manner... What Colburn seeks to do is evaluate the merits of all sides and then suggest a kind of co-existence... Particularly of significance may be Colborn's account of the basic issue of the relation of theoretical science to reality itself... The situation here is eerily similar to that raised by advocates of creationism who condemn evolutionary theory as 'just a theory'... The journey Colburn sets out for the reader takes us through key issues such as this, including the question of the nature of memory."
Paperback
- Publication Date: 01 September 2011
- ISBN-13: 9781845402211
- Extent: Main content page count : 300
- Code: 1845402219
- Dimensions: 15.6 x 23.4 x 1.5 cm
- Weight: 350 grams
- List Price: £17.95
- ONIX Version 2.1, Version 3

Details

Title: Pluralism and the Mind
Author: Matthew Colborn
Language: English
Publisher: Imprint Academic
Imprint: Imprint Academic

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