Consciousness and Mental Life

Download or read book Consciousness and Mental Life written by Daniel N. Robinson and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Begins with Aristotle and the ancient Greeks and continues through to René Descartes, David Hume, William James, Daniel Dennett, John Searle, Richard Rorty, Hilary Putnam, and Derek Parfit. Approaching the issue from both a philosophical and a psychological perspective, Robinson identifies what makes the study of consciousness so problematic and asks whether cognitive neuroscience can truly reveal the origins of mental events, emotions, and preference, or if these occurrences are better understood by studying the whole person, not just the brain. He corrects many claims made about the success of brain science and provides a valuable historical context for the study of human consciousness. From publisher catalog.