We know, more intimately than anything else, what it's like to undergo a rich world of experiences: agonizing pains, dizzying pleasures, heady rage and existential doubts. But, despite the incredible advances of physical science, it seems that we're no closer to an explanation of how this inner world of experiences comes about. No matter how detailed our description of the physical brain, perhaps we'll always be left with this same question: how and why does the brain produce consciousness? This book is a short, accessible and engaging guide to the mystery of consciousness. Featuring remastered interviews and original essays from the world's leading thinkers, Philosophers on Consciousness sheds new light on the most promising theories in philosophy and science. Beyond understanding the mind, this is a journey into personal identity, the origin of meaning, the nature of morality and the fundamental structure of reality. Contributors include: Miri Albahari, Susan Blackmore, David Chalmers, Patricia Churchland, Daniel Dennett, Keith Frankish, Philip Goff, Frank Jackson, Casey Logue, Gregory Miller, Michelle Montague, Massimo Pigliucci and Galen Strawson.

This comprehensive volume explores histories and modern reworkings of the ideas of mind, soul and consciousness in South Asia. It focuses on the burgeoning ‘psy-disciplines’ – psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy – and their links with religion, science, philosophy, and modern notions of the mystical and spiritual, not just in South Asia, but around the world. The authors explore the global flows of ideas that gathered pace during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including: the idea(s) of self within ‘Hindu modernities’; the history of relativity of consciousness in Jaina epistemology; Jungian critiques of Cartesian rationalism; Islamic reform vis-à-vis Sufi mysticism; and the re-examination and invocations of key strands of the fields of ‘Indian philosophy’ and the ‘psy-disciplines’ in modern India. Together these chapters stoke a critical engagement with existing conceptual boundaries and categories of mind, soul, consciousness, and body-mind relationship in modern Asian and European spiritual and intellectual traditions. This book will interest scholars and students of cross-cultural philosophy, intellectual history, history of religion, religious studies, and history of the mind sciences. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal South Asian History and Culture.

What, if anything, do dreams tell us about ourselves? What is the relationship between types of sleep and types of dreams? Does dreaming serve any purpose? Or are dreams simply meaningless mental noise--"unmusical fingers wandering over the piano keys"? With expertise in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, Owen Flanagan is uniquely qualified to answer these questions. And in Dreaming Souls he provides both an accessible survey of the latest research on sleep and dreams and a compelling new theory about the nature and function of dreaming. Flanagan argues that while sleep has a clear biological function and adaptive value, dreams are merely side effects, "free riders," irrelevant from an evolutionary point of view. But dreams are hardly unimportant. Indeed, Flanagan argues that dreams are self-expressive, the result of our need to find or to create meaning, even when we're sleeping. Rejecting Freud's theory of manifest and latent content--of repressed wishes appearing in disguised form--Flanagan shows how brainstem activity during sleep generates a jumbled profusion of memories, images, thoughts, emotions, and desires, which the cerebral cortex then attempts to shape into a more or less coherent story. Such dream-narratives range from the relatively mundane worries of non REM sleep to the fantastic confabulations of deep REM that resemble psychotic episodes in their strangeness. But however bizarre these narratives may be, they can shed light on our mental life, our well being, and our sense of self. Written with clarity, lively wit, and remarkable insight, Dreaming Souls offers a fascinating new way of apprehending one of the oldest mysteries of mental life.

In One Mind, New York Times best-selling author Larry Dossey, M.D., proposes an inspiring view of consciousness that may reshape our destiny. Dossey’s premise is that all individual minds are part of an infinite, collective dimension of consciousness he calls the One Mind. This state—which we can all access—explains phenomena as diverse as epiphanies, creative breakthroughs, premonitions of danger or disaster, near-death experiences, communication with other species and with the dead, reincarnation, the movement of herds, flocks, and schools, and remote healing.Dossey presents his theory in easily digestible, bite-sized vignettes. Through engaging stories, fascinating research, and brilliant insights from great thinkers throughout history, readers will explore the outer reaches of human consciousness, discover a new way to interpret the great mysteries of our experience, and learn how to develop the empathy necessary to engender more love, peace, and collective awareness. The result is a rich new understanding of what it means to be human and a renewed hope that we can successfully confront the challenges we face at this crossroads in human history.Even before publication One Mind drew praise from the finest minds of our time. It has been heralded as "landmark," "a brilliant synthesis," a "magnum opus," a "feast" of ideas, "compelling," "gripping," and "a major shift in our understanding of consciousness."

A radically new view of the nature and purpose of consciousness How is consciousness possible? What biological purpose does it serve? And why do we value it so highly? In Soul Dust, the psychologist Nicholas Humphrey, a leading figure in consciousness research, proposes a startling new theory. Consciousness, he argues, is nothing less than a magical-mystery show that we stage for ourselves inside our own heads. This self-made show lights up the world for us and makes us feel special and transcendent. Thus consciousness paves the way for spirituality, and allows us, as human beings, to reap the rewards, and anxieties, of living in what Humphrey calls the "soul niche." Tightly argued, intellectually gripping, and a joy to read, Soul Dust provides answers to the deepest questions. It shows how the problem of consciousness merges with questions that obsess us all—how life should be lived and the fear of death. Resting firmly on neuroscience and evolutionary theory, and drawing a wealth of insights from philosophy and literature, Soul Dust is an uncompromising yet life-affirming work—one that never loses sight of the majesty and wonder of consciousness.

This comprehensive volume explores histories and modern reworkings of the ideas of mind, soul and consciousness in South Asia. It focuses on the burgeoning 'psy-disciplines' - psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy - and their links with religion, science, philosophy, and modern notions of the mystical and spiritual, not just in South Asia, but around the world. The authors explore the global flows of ideas that gathered pace during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including: the idea(s) of self within 'Hindu modernities'; the history of relativity of consciousness in Jaina epistemology; Jungian critiques of Cartesian rationalism; Islamic reform vis-à-vis Sufi mysticism; and the re-examination and invocations of key strands of the fields of 'Indian philosophy' and the 'psy-disciplines' in modern India. Together these chapters stoke a critical engagement with existing conceptual boundaries and categories of mind, soul, consciousness, and body-mind relationship in modern Asian and European spiritual and intellectual traditions. This book will interest scholars and students of cross-cultural philosophy, intellectual history, history of religion, religious studies, and history of the mind sciences. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal South Asian History and Culture. n Asian and European spiritual and intellectual traditions. This book will interest scholars and students of cross-cultural philosophy, intellectual history, history of religion, religious studies, and history of the mind sciences. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal South Asian History and Culture.

A thought-provoking and accessible guide to how an ancient spiritual practice known as Raja Yoga meditation--Yoga of the mind--can help us develop attitudes that will dramatically improve the quality of our inner lives. Using the author’s own story as a starting point, this illuminating work provides a whole new perspective on matters of the spirit, including rediscovering the nature of the self, understanding and exploring the different levels of consciousness, learning about the natural law that governs the universe, and how to support your spiritual development with the right lifestyle. Previously published by the Brahma Kumaris Organization--a group that seeks to help everyone rediscover his or her potential for greatness by facilitating a process of spiritual awakening that is both non-denominational and respectful of all traditions--Pathways to Higher Consciousness is an enlightening entry on the very first Sterling Ethos list.