Waking, Dreaming, Being

Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy
Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-0-231-13709-6
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 496 Seiten, Format (B × H): 159 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 815 g

A renowned philosopher of the mind, also known for his groundbreaking work on Buddhism and cognitive science, Evan Thompson combines the latest neuroscience research on sleep, dreaming, and meditation with Indian and Western philosophy of the mind, casting new light on the self and its relation to the brain.

Thompson shows how the self is a changing process, not a static thing. When we are awake we identify with our body, but if we let our mind wander or daydream, we project a mentally imagined self into the remembered past or anticipated future. As we fall asleep, the impression of being a bounded self distinct from the world dissolves, but the self reappears in the dream state. If we have a lucid dream, we no longer identify only with the self within the dream. Our sense of self now includes our dreaming self, the "I" as dreamer. Finally, as we meditate either in the waking state or in a lucid dream we can observe whatever images or thoughts arise and how we tend to identify with them as "me." We can also experience sheer awareness itself, distinct from the changing contents that make up our image of the self.

Contemplative traditions say that we can learn to let go of the self, so that when we die we can witness its dissolution with equanimity. Thompson weaves together neuroscience, philosophy, and personal narrative to depict these transformations, adding uncommon depth to life's profound questions. Contemplative experience comes to illuminate scientific findings, and scientific evidence enriches the vast knowledge acquired by contemplatives.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Thompson, Evan

Weitere Mitwirkende

Batchelor, Stephen

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Metaphysik, Ontologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Bewusstseinszustände Wachbewusstsein, Unbewusstheit
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Neurowissenschaften, Kognitionswissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophie des Geistes, Neurophilosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword by Stephen BatchelorPrologue: The Dalai Lama's ConjectureAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Seeing: What Is Consciousness?2. Waking: How Do We Perceive?3. Being: What Is Pure Awareness?4. Dreaming: Who Am I?5. Witnessing: Is This a Dream?6. Imagining: Are We Real?7. Floating: Where Am I?8. Sleeping: Are We Conscious in Deep Sleep?9. Dying: What Happens When We Die?10. Knowing: Is the Self an Illusion?NotesBibliographyIndex

Über Autor(innen)

Evan Thompson is professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the author of Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind and Colour Vision: A Study in Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Perception; coauthor of The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience; and coeditor of Self, No Self? Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions and The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness.