Consciousness and the Social Brain

Erscheinungsjahr 2013
ISBN: 978-0-19-992864-4
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 280 Seiten, Format (B × H): 142 mm x 211 mm, Gewicht: 363 g

What is consciousness and how can a brain, a mere collection of neurons, create it? In Consciousness and the Social Brain, Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano lays out an audacious new theory to account for the deepest mystery of them all. The human brain has evolved a complex circuitry that allows it to be socially intelligent. This social machinery has only just begun to be studied in detail. One function of this circuitry is to attribute awareness to others:

to compute that person Y is aware of thing X. In Graziano's theory, the machinery that attributes awareness to others also attributes it to oneself. Damage that machinery and you disrupt your own awareness. Graziano discusses the science, the evidence, the philosophy, and the surprising implications
of this new theory.

Zielgruppe

Scientific lay audience: anyone interested in science, the mind, the brain, evolution... Scholars of consciousness and mind: students, philosophers, psychologists, theologians, A.I. specialists, neuroscientists.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Graziano, Michael S A

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Biologische Psychologie, Neuropsychologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophie des Geistes, Neurophilosophie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Neurowissenschaften, Kognitionswissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I: The Theory
Chapter 1: The magic trick
Chapter 2: Introducing the theory
Chapter 3: Awareness as information
Chapter 4: Being aware versus knowing that you are aware
Chapter 5: The attention schema
Chapter 6: Illusions and myths
Chapter 7: Social attention
Chapter 8: How do I distinguish my awareness from yours?
Chapter 9: Some useful complexities
Part II: Comparison to previous theories and results
Chapter 10: Social theories of consciousness
Chapter 11: Consciousness as integrated information
Chapter 12: Neural correlates of consciousness
Chapter 13: Awareness and the machinery for social perception
Chapter 14: The neglect syndrome
Chapter 15: Multiple interlocking functions of the brain area TPJ
Chapter 16: Simulating other minds
Chapter 17: Some spiritual matters
Chapter 18: Explaining the magic trick

Über Autor(innen)

Michael S. A. Graziano, Professor of Neuroscience at Princeton University, is an internationally renowned scientist and an award-winning novelist. His books include the popular science book God, Soul, Mind, Brain and the short novels The Divine Farce, The Love Song of Monkey, and Death My Own Way.