Once we came out of the jungle and found time to think of something besides food, sex, and shelter, we confronted the fundamental questions: what are we? who are we? Is a person a body or a soul? How do we access the external world if we are nothing but brains encased in bodies? As neuroscientists map the most detailed aspects of the human brain and its interplay with the rest of the body, they remain baffled by what is essentially human: our selves. In most of the existing scientific literature, information processing has taken the place of the soul. Yet thus far, no convincing account has been presented of exactly where and how consciousness is stored in our bodies. In The Spread Mind, Riccardo Manzotti convincingly argues that our bodies do not contain subjective experience. Yet consciousness is real, and like any other real phenomenon, is physical. Where is it, then? Manzotti’s radical hypothesis is that consciousness is one and the same as the physical world surrounding us. Drawing on Einstein’s theories of relativity, evidence about dreams and hallucination, and the geometry of light in perception, and using vivid, real-world examples to illustrate his ideas, Manzotti argues that consciousness is not a “movie in the head”: it is the actual world we move in.

The Spread Mind: why consciousness and the world are one, 2017-11.

The Spread Mind: why consciousness and the world are one

MANZOTTI, RICCARDO
2017-11-01

Abstract

Once we came out of the jungle and found time to think of something besides food, sex, and shelter, we confronted the fundamental questions: what are we? who are we? Is a person a body or a soul? How do we access the external world if we are nothing but brains encased in bodies? As neuroscientists map the most detailed aspects of the human brain and its interplay with the rest of the body, they remain baffled by what is essentially human: our selves. In most of the existing scientific literature, information processing has taken the place of the soul. Yet thus far, no convincing account has been presented of exactly where and how consciousness is stored in our bodies. In The Spread Mind, Riccardo Manzotti convincingly argues that our bodies do not contain subjective experience. Yet consciousness is real, and like any other real phenomenon, is physical. Where is it, then? Manzotti’s radical hypothesis is that consciousness is one and the same as the physical world surrounding us. Drawing on Einstein’s theories of relativity, evidence about dreams and hallucination, and the geometry of light in perception, and using vivid, real-world examples to illustrate his ideas, Manzotti argues that consciousness is not a “movie in the head”: it is the actual world we move in.
Inglese
nov-2017
9781682191187
9781682191194
304
United States
New York
OR Books
A stampa
internazionale
esperti anonimi
Settore M-FIL/01 - Filosofia Teoretica
Settore M-FIL/02 - Logica e Filosofia della Scienza
1
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
The Spread Mind_2P.pdf

Non accessibile

Descrizione: Libro
Dimensione 3.72 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
3.72 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10808/23083
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact