Neural Correlates of Consciousness: Empirical and Conceptual Questions

For me, the most interesting thing about this book was the attempt to establish a dialog between neuroscience and philosopy, wherein philosophy is able to sharpen questions posed by neuroscientists, and in turn the findings of neuroscience help shape philosophical questions. One of the more successful examples of this dialog is in "theory of mind," really first brought to the fore by philosophers, then turned into empirical questions that have been addressed experimentally by both developmental psychologists and neuroscientists. However, I have to say I found some of the philosophical contributions in this book rather heavy going, though I imagine those with more of a philosophy background would have the same to say about the neuroscientific chapters! I agree that the contributors are top-notch, with two of them (Edelman and Crick) Nobelists. Several of them have more expansive versions of their theories presented elsewhere...e.g. Damasio in his "The Feeling of What Happens" and Edelman in "A Universe of Consciousness", though the chapters here are nice, brief summaries of their ideas.

I absolutely loved this book. Nowhere else had I read such an interesting and complete review of where the field of consciousness studies presently stands. The first part of the book, mostly by philosophers, shows that fruitfull interactions are possible betwween science and philosophy. The part on visual consciousness is impressive, shedding much light on new theories and possibilities. In part 2, Damasio, Crick, Edelman and Singer introduce their candidates for the NCC masterfully. The last and more philosophically inclined part of the book, reviews some usually overlooked issues, but unfortunately ends up being mostly speculative. Overall, however,in my opinion this book is the most important contribution to consciousness literature to date.

This book is really great - it is a tour de force through all disciplines related to consciousness research, including philosophy of science and of mind, neuroscience, cognitive and neuropsychology. It is safe to say that it is written not only by some of the most important researchers in the field (which is true of many books), but also by MOST of them. The list of contributors is really remarkable, and a number of chapters are important updates of their current theories. There are also some chapters including new research data of high quality, some citable as important original work available nowhere else! I think this book should grace any library on consciousness research, not only for its interdisciplinary architecture but also as reflecting the state of art in this area.