Consciousness?

Denerick

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a pop. philosophy book that examines what the blooming thing is all about?

Please bear in mind that too much philosophy will send my brain into a descending spiral world of unopened boxes and screaming hyena's.

So something in laymans terms, please.

Joe1919

http://books.google.ie/books?id=f-z8TXGGLowC&dq=isbn:0195157338

I like this book by John Searle,(famous for his 'Chinese room argument') although it can be very heavy at times.

He is big into intentionality i.e. conscious states have intention, they are about things in the world and this makes him very much a realist.

His philosophy of mind fits into his overall philosophy and his view of 'truth'. i.e. There are two types of facts
1 Brute physical facts about the world.
2 Constructed/social facts.

He is not a dualist but is also not a reductionist.

Many of the arguments about consciousness are discussed elsewhere on the internet. e.g.
http://www.human-brain.org/searle.html
http://www.consciousentities.com/searle.htm
http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~davidt/Searle.htm