Conversations on Consciousness |
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Author:
Susan Blackmore
By OUP Oxford
Average Customer Rating: 
List Price: £9.99
Our Price: £5.06
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 A synopsis of current theories, 2006-08-24
This is not a detailed book on consciousness. The author interviews most of the current consciousness theoreticians to get a flavour of their ideas and how they differ from each other. Each person gets about 10 pages or so, so don't expect more than a brief appreciation of each.
The language is also quite technical (-there is a glossary, but it's very short), so I would not recommend this as a first read on the subject. Being a series of interviews, the text does not flow as well as a book and is sometimes rather stacato.
Overall, this is a good synopsis on the current thinking : use it to choose the theory you find most attractive and then search for books by that author to get the real meat of their theory.
 Very informative, directly from the best people on the field! , 2007-12-24
You get all the different raprochements on the relation of consciousness to matter: You get the theories of those who believe in gods, of those who believe in classical laborious science and of those who suggest a quantum raprochement. I strongly suggest this book because it opens access to many other writers and books, depending on which theories included in this book persuade you best.
Brief and kept incredibly simple, 2006-08-30
Roughly the same questions are given to alot of the most interesting people in contemporary consciousness research. It spans over psychology, philosophy, neuro-science and religion - and does so without getting boring.
It's spread out into the "conversations" and it's a very good-night read - but don't expect any real depth from it. Each conversation gets about 10-15 pages (if I remember correctly) - so it's hard to be anything but superficial.
Where it REALLY wins me over is in the way it creates a map of the different ideas and thoughts within the field of consciousness. It does this REALLY well, so if you want to get a grasp of the different ideas and paths there are to explore - this would be a great place to start.
It puts focus on free will and what consciousness really "is" - and how it is formed.
If you buy this book, please remember to look at the little dictionary in the back, it's got all the terms described in a way that almost everyone can understand it.
Reasonably insightful, but repetitive series of expert consciousness interviews, 2008-09-27
Involves about 25 conversations with leading philosophers and neuroscientists on consciousness and free will. It's inevitably rather repetitive given the format (half the people give almost identical answers to why consciousness is an important or difficult topic, and what free will is), and there are times when both Blackmore's or her interviewee's conversations are rather unintelligent or incoherent. But on the whole it was reasonably interesting, with some useful insights and clarifications.
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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780192806239
ISBN: 0192806238
Label: OUP Oxford
Manufacturer: OUP Oxford
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2006-10-26
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Studio: OUP Oxford |
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