Understanding Consciousness: Its Function and Brain Processes

Understanding Consciousness clarifies the main concepts related to consciousness and posits a new, strikingly simple biological explanation which allows the reader to fully understand consciousness in relation to the brain's function and its processes. In a clear and accessible manner, Gerd Sommerhoff provides the reader with an interpretation of consciousness as a property that is possessed not only by humans, but also by many creatures lacking a language faculty. Consciousness has been traditionally defined as an 'awareness' of the surrounding world, of the self as an entity, and of thoughts and feelings -- all of which the author covers. Many books have offered discussion of how the mind works, but little attention has actually been paid to consciousness in adequate and precise scientific terms. In this unique book the author attempts to rectify this. By presenting two empirically supported hypotheses about the functional architecture of a specific set of brain processes, the author is able to conclude that awareness is inextricably linked with both subjective experience and the objective faculties of the brain. In turn, these conclusions are applied to a broad range of interesting and fundamental questions. For example, what is the biological rationale of subjective experience? And, more importantly, where exactly does consciousness reside in the neural networks? Understanding Consciousness is a highly readable volume and will be a valuable resource for undergraduate students in cognitive psychology and philosophy, as well as on a variety of other social sciences courses.