Consciousness EvolvingJames H. Fetzer A collection of stimulating studies on the past, the present, and the future of consciousness, Consciousness Evolving contributes to understanding some of the most important conceptual problems of our time. The advent of the modern synthesis together with the human genome project affords a platform for considering what it is that makes humans distinctive. Beginning with an essay that accents the nature of the problem within a behavioristic framework and concluding with reflections on the prospects for a form of immortality through serial cloning, the chapters are divided into three sections, which concern how and why consciousness may have evolved, special capacities involving language, creativity, and mentality as candidates for evolved adaptations, and the prospects for artificial evolution though the design of robots with specific forms of consciousness and mind. This volume should appeal to every reader who wants to better understand the human species, including its distinctive properties and its place in nature. (Series A) |
Contents
Prologue | 1 |
Consciousness adaptation and epiphenomenalism | 21 |
The function of consciousness | 43 |
Special adaptations | 87 |
evolution engineer consciousness? | 111 |
Nothing without mind | 139 |
Artificial consciousness | 161 |
Stefano Nolfi and Oraxio Miglino | 181 |
The easy problems and the rest | 205 |
On the possibility of serial immortality | 223 |
Subject index 239 | 247 |
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Common terms and phrases
ability absent qualia activity adaptationist adaptive advantage agents algorithm approach argument autonomous awareness behavior behavior based robotics believe Blind Watchmaker blindsight brain Bringsjord BRUTUS Cambridge capacity causal grain causal role Chalmers classical classicists clonal offspring cloning cognitive science color complex concepts control system creativity creatures Dennett dreams engineering environment epiphenomenalism etiological function evolutionary robotics evolved example experience explain fitness landscape Flanagan Floreano functional role genetic Harnad human individuals instantiated Intelligence internal dynamics internal representations interpreter inverted inverted spectrum Koza's language of thought learning live logically supervenient mechanisms mental metaconsciousness metaphysical mobile robot natural selection neural network neurons Nolfi objects one's organisms P-consciousness phenomenal consciousness phenomenal properties philosophical philosophy of mind physical position possible problem processing programs pure sensory-motor qualia question real world reason recharging requires scientific sense sensory story structures supervenience symbolic theoretical things tion traits Turing visual zombies