The Unity of Mind, Brain and World Current Perspectives on a Science of Consciousness

Issues concerning the unity of minds, bodies and the world have often recurred in the history of philosophy and, more recently, in scientific models. Taking into account both the philosophical and scientific knowledge about consciousness, this book presents and discusses some theoretical guiding ideas for the science of consciousness. The authors argue that, within this interdisciplinary context, a consensus appears to be emerging assuming that the conscious mind and the functioning brain are two aspects of a complex system that interacts with the world. How can this concept of reality - one that includes the existence of consciousness - be approached both philosophically and scientifically? The Unity of Mind, Brain and World is the result of a three-year online discussion between the authors who present a diversity of perspectives, tending towards a theoretical synthesis, aimed to contribute to the insertion of this field of knowledge in the academic curriculum.

Introduction Alfredo Pereira, Jr and Dietrich Lehmann; 1. Body and world as phenomenal contents of the brain's reality model Bjorn Merker; 2. Homing in on the brain mechanisms linked to consciousness: the buffer of the perception-and-action interface Christine A. Godwin, Adam Gazzaley and Ezequiel Morsella; 3. A biosemiotic view on consciousness derived from system hierarchy Ron Cottam and Willy Ranson; 4. A conceptual framework embedding conscious experience in physical processes Wolfgang Baer; 5. Emergence in dual-aspect monism Ram L. P. Vimal; 6. Consciousness: microstates of the brain's electric field as atoms of thought and emotion Dietrich Lehmann; 7. A foundation for the scientific study of consciousness Arnold Trehub; 8. The proemial synapse: consciousness-generating glial-neuronal units Bernhard J. Mitterauer; 9. A cognitive model of language and conscious processes Leonid Perlovsky; 10. Triple-aspect monism: a conceptual framework for the science of human consciousness Alfredo Pereira, Jr.

Alfredo Pereira, Jr is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Education at the Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP).
Dietrich Lehmann is Professor Emeritus of Clinical Neurophysiology at the University of Zurich and a member of the KEY Institute for Brain-Mind Research at the University Hospital of Psychiatry, Zurich.