Hardback : $174.00
The Centered Mind offers a new view of the nature and causal determinants of both reflective thinking and, more generally, the stream of consciousness. Peter Carruthers argues that conscious thought is always sensory-based, relying on the resources of the working-memory system. This system has been much studied by cognitive scientists. It enables sensory images to be sustained and manipulated through attentional signals directed at midlevel sensory areas of
the brain. When abstract conceptual representations are bound into these images, we consciously experience ourselves as making judgments or arriving at decisions. Thus one might hear oneself as judging, in
inner speech, that it is time to go home, for example. However, our amodal (non-sensory) propositional attitudes are never actually among the contents of this stream of conscious reflection. Our beliefs, goals, and decisions are only ever active in the background of consciousness, working behind the scenes to select the sensory-based imagery that occurs in working memory. They are never themselves conscious. Drawing on extensive knowledge of the scientific literature on
working memory and related topics, Carruthers builds an argument that challenges the central assumptions of many philosophers. In addition to arguing that non-sensory propositional attitudes are never
conscious, he also shows that they are never under direct intentional control. Written with his usual clarity and directness, The Centered Mind will be essential reading for all philosophers and cognitive scientists interested in the nature of human thought processes.
The Centered Mind offers a new view of the nature and causal determinants of both reflective thinking and, more generally, the stream of consciousness. Peter Carruthers argues that conscious thought is always sensory-based, relying on the resources of the working-memory system. This system has been much studied by cognitive scientists. It enables sensory images to be sustained and manipulated through attentional signals directed at midlevel sensory areas of
the brain. When abstract conceptual representations are bound into these images, we consciously experience ourselves as making judgments or arriving at decisions. Thus one might hear oneself as judging, in
inner speech, that it is time to go home, for example. However, our amodal (non-sensory) propositional attitudes are never actually among the contents of this stream of conscious reflection. Our beliefs, goals, and decisions are only ever active in the background of consciousness, working behind the scenes to select the sensory-based imagery that occurs in working memory. They are never themselves conscious. Drawing on extensive knowledge of the scientific literature on
working memory and related topics, Carruthers builds an argument that challenges the central assumptions of many philosophers. In addition to arguing that non-sensory propositional attitudes are never
conscious, he also shows that they are never under direct intentional control. Written with his usual clarity and directness, The Centered Mind will be essential reading for all philosophers and cognitive scientists interested in the nature of human thought processes.
1: Introduction
2: Propositional Attitudes
3: Perception, Attention, and Consciousness
4: The Nature of Working Memory
5: The Unity of Working Memory
6: Working Memory in Action
7: Reasoning, Working Memory, and Attitudes
8: The Evolution of Reflection
9: Conclusion: The Conscious Mind as Marionette
References
Index of names
Index of subjects
Peter Carruthers is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland. He is the author of numerous articles and books in philosophy of mind and cognitive science, and has co-edited seven volumes of interdisciplinary essays in cognitive science.
This impressive, if difficult, book of 'theoretical psychology'
critically integrates results from across the cognitive sciences
into a theory of 'reflection' . . . [Carruthers] systematizes and
advances 'global workspace' theories in the most comprehensive
philosophical study yet of the sciences of 'working memory' . . .
Even readers who disagree with Carruthers' central claims will
enjoy his rich discussions along the way of attention, motor
imagery, temporal discounting, mind-wandering and creativity, fluid
intelligence, animal cognition, and extended minds.
*John Sutton, Australasian Journal of Philosophy*
a good example of the genre, meriting careful study from anyone
interested in reflection and the stream of consciousness.
Carruthers writes clearly and engagingly. He treats his traditional
targets with respect. He presents an impressive array of empirical
research while both getting into the details and fitting them all
into an intelligible order. His aim throughout is to help us better
understand the things themselves--reflection and the stream of
consciousness -- not to grind some metaphilosophical axe . . . I
found reading his book and engaging with his reasoning to be
instructive and illuminating.
*Elijah Chudnoff, Notre Dame Philosophical Review Online*
Although the stream of consciousness seems intimately familiar to
us, its underlying nature has been an enduring philosophical and
psychological mystery. Carruthers presents a clear and deeply
radical solution to this mystery, drawing together a massive array
of empirical research in support of an attractively simple
sensory-based account of conscious thought. He takes bold positions
on a wide range of related issues, including the line between
mental activity and passivity, the relationship between working
memory and reflective thought, and the gap between our intuitive
impressions of our conscious states and the real contents of those
states themselves. For those who are curious about these questions,
The Centered Mind is a terrific and accessible guide; for those who
are already specialists in conscious thought, this book sets the
agenda of future research.
*Jennifer Nagel, University of Toronto*
Peter Carruthers has long been one of our foremost empirically
informed philosophers of mind. In this book, he presents a
persuasive account of the mechanisms underlying conscious thought
and reasoning. Carruthers integrates a wealth of empirical work in
the cognitive sciences to develop a novel conception of working
memory as the heart of conscious thought and reasoning.
Philosophically sophisticated and steeped in psychology and
neuroscience, The Centered Mind is essential reading for
philosophers and for cognitive scientists concerned with the nature
of consciousness and the nature, powers and limits of conscious
reasoning.
*Neil Levy, Oxford Centre for Neuroethics / Florey Neuroscience
Institutes, University of Melbourne*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
