Here is a review by Raymond Tallis of two recent books arguing for more sophisticated discussions about the mysteries of consciousness – i.e., discussions amounting to more than, “Hey, when I show the subject Rothko paintings, *that* part of the brain lights up!”. Representative quote from the review:
A brain in good working order is, of course, a necessary condition of every aspect of human consciousness, from basic perception to the most complex constructed sense of self. It does not follow that this is the whole story of our nature—that we are just brains in some kind of working order. Many aspects of everyday human consciousness elude neural reduction. For we belong to a boundless, infinitely elaborated community of minds that has been forged out of a trillion cognitive handshakes over hundreds of thousands of years. This community is the theater of our daily existence. It separates life in the jungle from life in the office, and because it is a community of minds, it cannot be inspected by looking at the activity of the solitary brain.
USUPhilosophy 