Consciousness and Human Identity Book

The problem of how we, as humans, "see" ourselves has intrigued philosophers, theologians, scientists and most reflective people for centuries. As John Cornwell, editor and contributor to this collection of essays, reminds us: "...consciousness lies at the very heart of what it means to be human: in the Western tradition consciousness is the very eye of the human soul". But the phenomenon of human consciousness has proved to be remarkably difficult to understand. Scientists had all but given up the struggle to understand the link between the brain and consciousness--one of the last frontiers of science, perhaps its ultimate challenge, according to the neuroscientist Eric Kandel. Now, after years of neglect, biologists are applying new non-invasive and non-destructive techniques to the workings of the brain, the processing of stimuli from the senses and how they impinge on our sense of self. This collection of 11 essays by philosophers, psychologists, scientists and a theologian, mainly from British universities, stems from symposia held in Cambridge in 1992 and 1995. They tackle the fundamental difficulty of how to approach the problem, whether the "ordinary methods of science can be applied to consciousness" and if the "reductive" approach is applicable to such a complex phenomenon. The editor, John Cornwell, is director of the Science and Human Dimension Project at the University of Cambridge. Consequently, the book has a pretty "heavyweight" academic pedigree and line-up of contributors. The essays have footnotes and references but the writing is generally accessible. For anyone interested in the state of the debate on the fundamental question of how we see ourselves, there are plenty of thought provoking stimuli in these essays. --Douglas PalmerRead More