Ebook: Natural Fabrications: Science, Emergence and Consciousness
Author: William Seager (auth.)
- Genre: Other Social Sciences // Philosophy
- Tags: Statistical Physics Dynamical Systems and Complexity, Philosophy of Mind, Neurobiology, Neuropsychology
- Series: The Frontiers Collection
- Year: 2012
- Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
- Edition: 1
- Language: English
- pdf
The spectacular success of the scientific enterprise over the last four hundred years has led to the promise of an all encompassing vision of the natural world. In this elegant picture, everything we observe is based upon just a few fundamental processes and entities. The almost infinite variety and complexity of the world is thus the product of emergence. But the concept of emergence is fraught with controversy and confusion. This book ponders the question of how emergence should be understood within the scientific picture, and whether a complete vision of the world can be attained that includes consciousness.
The spectacular success of the scientific enterprise over the last four hundred years has led to the promise of an all encompassing vision of the natural world. In this elegant picture, everything we observe is based upon just a few fundamental processes and entities. The almost infinite variety and complexity of the world is thus the product of emergence. But the concept of emergence is fraught with controversy and confusion. This book ponders the question of how emergence should be understood within the scientific picture, and whether a complete vision of the world can be attained that includes consciousness.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Front Matter....Pages 7-7
Looking Out....Pages 9-24
Looking In....Pages 25-36
Consciousness in the Brain....Pages 37-61
Front Matter....Pages 63-63
Emergence and Cellular Automata....Pages 65-83
Against Radical Emergence....Pages 85-119
Emergence and Supervenience....Pages 121-154
Generalized Epiphenomenalism....Pages 155-174
The Paradox of Consciousness....Pages 175-188
Embracing the Mystery....Pages 189-210
Overview....Pages 1-5
Back Matter....Pages 211-262
The spectacular success of the scientific enterprise over the last four hundred years has led to the promise of an all encompassing vision of the natural world. In this elegant picture, everything we observe is based upon just a few fundamental processes and entities. The almost infinite variety and complexity of the world is thus the product of emergence. But the concept of emergence is fraught with controversy and confusion. This book ponders the question of how emergence should be understood within the scientific picture, and whether a complete vision of the world can be attained that includes consciousness.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Front Matter....Pages 7-7
Looking Out....Pages 9-24
Looking In....Pages 25-36
Consciousness in the Brain....Pages 37-61
Front Matter....Pages 63-63
Emergence and Cellular Automata....Pages 65-83
Against Radical Emergence....Pages 85-119
Emergence and Supervenience....Pages 121-154
Generalized Epiphenomenalism....Pages 155-174
The Paradox of Consciousness....Pages 175-188
Embracing the Mystery....Pages 189-210
Overview....Pages 1-5
Back Matter....Pages 211-262
....