Conundrums of Consciousness

In Search of Several Non-fundamental Theories
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-14122-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 210 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Consciousness is widely regarded as one of the final frontiers of the human intellectual journey. Despite efforts in psychology, neuroscience and cognitive science, many issues remain elusive and intractable. This book identifies ten problems, five 'easy' and five 'hard', and navigates the challenging terrain of these issues.

The so-called 'easy' problems are by no means straightforward; they are only relatively easy in the sense that current scientific methods can make steady progress on them. Topics covered in the first half include attention, cognition, neural correlates, neural mechanisms, and perceptual perspectives. The so-called 'hard' problems are those that cannot be readily tackled by current standard scientific methods. Those in the second half include subjectivity, objectivity, reasons, persons, and freedom of will. Each chapter deals with one topic and is coupled with one specific research question. In answering these questions, the author proposes several non-fundamental theories which are not intended to be definitive.

This book provides an intellectual roadmap for novices and experts alike and will stimulate further interdisciplinary research programmes in consciousness studies.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Professional Reference

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cheng, Tony

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophie des Geistes, Neurophilosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Kognitionspsychologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction: Concepts and Conundrums Part I: Easy Problems 2. Attention – Is consciousness richer and/or finer-grained than attention? 3. Cognition – Is there a joint in nature between consciousness and cognition? 4. Correlates – Is the prefrontal cortex part of the overall sensory NCCs? 5. Mechanisms – What brain mechanisms are responsible for consciousness? 6. Perspectives – Do we consciously represent perspectival properties? Part II: Hard Problems 7. Subjectivity – How can subjectivity be placed into the objective world? 8. Objectivity – How can consciousness reach out to the objective world? 9. Reasons – How do consciousness and reasons relate to each other? 10. Persons – Is personhood at least partially constituted by consciousness? 11. Freedom – Does freedom require strong emergence about consciousness? 12. Conclusion: The Hard Enough Problem, The Meta-problem, and The Truly Hard Problem

Über Autor(innen)

Tony Cheng is an Associate Professor at Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, and will be joining Tohoku University as a Distinguished Associate Professor at Center for Phenomenology and Philosophy of Consciousness. He primarily works on attention, memory, spatial senses, Molyneux’s question, and transcendental argument.