The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness

Copyright © 2007 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness

Editor(s): Max Velmans, Susan Schneider

Published Online: 13 DEC 2007

Print ISBN: 9781405120197

Online ISBN: 9780470751466

DOI: 10.1002/9780470751466

About this Book

Product Information

About The Product

With fifty-five peer reviewed chapters written by the leading authors in the field, The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness is the most extensive and comprehensive survey of the study of consciousness available today.


  • Provides a variety of philosophical and scientific perspectives that create a breadth of understanding of the topic
  • Topics include the origins and extent of consciousness, different consciousness experiences, such as meditation and drug-induced states, and the neuroscience of consciousness

Table of contents

    1. You have free access to this content
      Frontmatter (pages i–xviii)

    1. Introduction (pages 1–6)

      Susan Schneider and Max Velmans

  3. Part I: Problems of Consciousness

    1. Chapter 1

      A Brief History of the Scientific Approach to the Study of Consciousness (pages 7–22)

      Chris Frith and Geraint Rees

    2. Chapter 2

      Philosophical Problems of Consciousness (pages 23–36)

      Michael Tye

  4. Part II: The Domain of Consciousness - Origins and Extent of Consciousness

    1. Chapter 3

      Consciousness in Infants (pages 37–57)

      Colwyn Trevarthen and Vasudevi Reddy

    2. Chapter 4

      Animal Consciousness (pages 58–71)

      Colin Allen and Mark Bekoff

    3. Chapter 5

      Rethinking the Evolution of Consciousness (pages 72–86)

      Thomas Polger

    4. Chapter 6

      Machine Consciousness (pages 87–98)

      Igor Aleksander

  5. Part II: The Domain of Consciousness - Some Varieties of Conscious Experience

    1. Chapter 7

      Normal and Abnormal States of Consciousness (pages 99–113)

      J. Allan Hobson

    2. Chapter 8

      Affective Consciousness (pages 114–129)

      Jaak Panksepp

    3. Chapter 9

      Clinical Pathologies and Unusual Experiences (pages 130–140)

      Richard P. Bentall

    4. Chapter 10

      Altered States of Consciousness: Drug- Induced States (pages 141–153)

      Edward F. Pace-Schott and J. Allan Hobson

    5. Chapter 11

      Meditation (pages 154–162)

      David Fontana

    6. Chapter 12

      Mystical Experience (pages 163–172)

      David Fontana

  6. Part II: The Domain of Consciousness - Breakdowns and the Unity of Consciousness

    1. Chapter 13

      The Case of Blindsight (pages 173–180)

      Lawrence Weiskrantz

    2. Chapter 14

      Split-Brain Cases (pages 181–193)

      Mary K. Colvin and Michael S. Gazzaniga

    3. Chapter 15

      Philosophical Psychopathology and Self- Consciousness (pages 194–208)

      G. Lynn Lynn Stephens and George Graham

    4. Chapter 16

      Coming Together: The Unity of Conscious Experience (pages 209–222)

      Barry Dainton

  7. Part III: Some Contemporary Theories of Consciousness

    1. Chapter 17

      The Hard Problem of Consciousness (pages 223–235)

      David Chalmers

    2. Chapter 18

      The Global Workspace Theory of Consciousness (pages 236–246)

      Bernard J. Baars

    3. Chapter 19

      The Intermediate Level Theory of Consciousness (pages 247–260)

      Jesse Prinz

    4. Chapter 20

      Representationalism about Consciousness (pages 261–276)

      William Seager and David Bourget

    5. Chapter 21

      Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness (pages 277–286)

      Peter Carruthers

    6. Chapter 22

      The Information Integration Theory of Consciousness (pages 287–299)

      Giulio Tononi

    7. Chapter 23

      Quantum Mechanical Theories of Consciousness (pages 300–312)

      Henry Stapp

    8. Chapter 24

      Daniel Dennett on the Nature of Consciousness (pages 313–324)

      Susan Schneider

    9. Chapter 25

      Biological Naturalism (pages 325–334)

      John Searle

    10. Chapter 26

      Mysterianism (pages 335–345)

      Mark Rowlands

    11. Chapter 27

      Dualism, Reductionism, and Reflexive Monism (pages 346–358)

      Max Velmans

    12. Chapter 28

      Naturalistic Dualism (pages 359–368)

      David Chalmers

  8. Part IV: Some Major Topics in the Philosophy of Consciousness

    1. Chapter 29

      Anti-Materialist Arguments and Influential Replies (pages 369–380)

      Joe Levine

    2. Chapter 30

      Functionalism and Qualia (pages 381–395)

      Robert Van Gulick

    3. Chapter 31

      The Knowledge Argument (pages 396–405)

      Torin Alter

    4. Chapter 32

      The Causal Efficacy of Consciousness (pages 406–417)

      Jaegwon Kim

    5. Chapter 33

      The Neurophilosophy of Consciousness (pages 418–430)

      Pete Mandik

    6. Chapter 34

      Type Materialism for Phenomenal Consciousness (pages 431–444)

      Brian P. McLaughlin

    7. Chapter 35

      Sensory and Perceptual Consciousness (pages 445–455)

      Austen Clark

    8. Chapter 36

      Self-Consciousness (pages 456–467)

      José Luis Bermúdez

    9. Chapter 37

      Consciousness and Intentionality (pages 468–484)

      George Graham, Terence Horgan and John Tienson

  9. Part V: Major Topics in the Science of Consciousness - Topics in the Cognitive Psychology of Consciousness

    1. Chapter 38

      Attention and Consciousness (pages 485–503)

      Nilli Lavie

    2. Chapter 39

      Inattentional Blindness, Change Blindness, and Consciousness (pages 504–511)

      Alva Noë

    3. Chapter 40

      Preconscious Processing (pages 512–524)

      Phil Merikle

    4. Chapter 41

      Implicit and Explicit Memory and Learning (pages 525–539)

      John F. Kihlstrom, Jennifer Dorfman and Lillian Park

  10. Part V: Major Topics in the Science of Consciousness - Topics in the Neuroscience of Consciousness

    1. Chapter 42

      Consciousness of Action (pages 540–550)

      Marc Jeannerod

    2. Chapter 43

      Methodologies for Identifying the Neural Correlates of Consciousness (pages 551–566)

      Geraint Rees and Chris Frith

    3. Chapter 44

      A Neurobiological Framework for Consciousness (pages 567–579)

      Francis Crick and Christof Koch

    4. Chapter 45

      A Theory of Micro-Consciousness (pages 580–588)

      Semir Zeki

    5. Chapter 46

      Global Disorders of Consciousness (pages 589–604)

      Nicholas D. Schiff

    6. Chapter 47

      Large-Scale Temporal Coordination of Cortical Activity as a Prerequisite for Conscious Experience (pages 605–615)

      Wolf Singer

    7. Chapter 48

      Duplex Vision: Separate Cortical Pathways for Conscious Perception and the Control of Action (pages 616–627)

      Melvyn A. Goodale

    8. Chapter 49

      Consciousness and Anesthesia (pages 628–639)

      John F. Kihlstrom and Randall C. Cork

    9. Chapter 50

      Neural Dominance, Neural Deference, and Sensorimotor Dynamics (pages 640–656)

      Susan Hurley

    10. Chapter 51

      Benjamin Libet's Work on the Neuroscience of Free Will (pages 657–670)

      William P. Banks and Susan Pockett

  11. Part V: Major Topics in the Science of Consciousness - First-Person Contributions to the Science of Consciousness

    1. Chapter 52

      Cognition, Fringe Consciousness, and the Legacy of William James (pages 671–685)

      Bruce Mangan

    2. Chapter 53

      Phenomenological Approaches to Consciousness (pages 686–696)

      Shaun Gallagher

    3. Chapter 54

      Eastern Methods for Investigating Mind and Consciousness (pages 697–710)

      Jonathan Shear

    4. Chapter 55

      An Epistemology for the Study of Consciousness (pages 711–725)

      Max Velmans

    1. You have free access to this content
      Appendix List of Useful Web Resources in Consciousness Studies (pages 726–728)

    1. You have free access to this content
      Name Index (pages 729–734)

    1. You have free access to this content
      Subject Index (pages 735–744)

SEARCH