How Matter Becomes Conscious

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

   PDF

2. Flipping the Debate

   • Jan Faye

   Pages 1-28

3. Our Animal Mind

   • Jan Faye

   Pages 29-68

4. Subjectivity in a Biological Perspective

   • Jan Faye

   Pages 69-105

5. A Difference That Makes No Difference

   • Jan Faye

   Pages 107-143

6. Why Identity Is Not Enough

   • Jan Faye

   Pages 145-181

7. Functionalism, Mechanisms, and Levels of Reality

   • Jan Faye

   Pages 183-223

8. The Environment Is What Matters

   • Jan Faye

   Pages 225-258

9. Understanding Consciousness

   • Jan Faye

   Pages 259-304

10. Back Matter

    Pages 305-329

    PDF

This innovative book proposes a unique and original perspective on the nature of the mind and how phenomenal consciousness may arise in a physical world. From simple sentient organisms to complex self-reflective systems, Faye argues for a naturalistic-evolutionary approach to philosophy of mind and consciousness.  Drawing on substantial literature in evolutionary biology and cognitive science, this book offers a promising alternative to the major theories of the mind-body problem: the quality of our experiences should not, as some philosophers have claimed, be associated with subjectivity that is not open for scientific explanation, nor should it be associated with intrinsic properties of the brain. Instead, Faye argues that mental properties are extrinsic properties of the brain caused by the organism’s interaction with its environment. Taking on the explanatory gap, and rejecting the ontological pluralism of present naturalist theories of the mind, Faye thus proposes a unified view of reality in which it is possible to explain qualitative mental presentations as part of the physical world. 

• Consciousness
• Naturalism
• Subjectivity
• Darwinism
• Physicalism
• Adaptation
• Extrinsic states

• Department of Media, Cognition and Communication, University of Copenhagen, Philosophy, Copenhagen, Denmark

  Jan Faye

Dr. Jan Faye, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, is a philosopher who has written extensively on topics in philosophy of science, metaphysics, and epistemology. His previous books include After Postmodernism (2012), The Nature of Scientific Thinking (2014), and Experience and Beyond (2016) all published by Palgrave Macmillan.

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