Readings List of Readings Edelman - Second Nature | Edelman - Second Nature |
|
|
| Monday, 10 September 2007 | |
|
This is a quick and fast summary of Gerald Edelman's perspective on the nature of consciousness as understood from the perspective of his neural darwinism approach.
Second NatureBrain Science and Human knowledgeGerald Edelman
Yale University Press
This is a small, very readable account of an approach to epistemology as grounded in the structure of neural tissue. Edelman calls it a brain-based epistemology. Edelman argues for taking new perspectives on how we acquire knowledge based on the improved understanding of brain operation coming from recent neuroscience. At the end, the book focuses on the possibility of exploring the weird phenomenon of consciousness - the very second nature of humans. He also addresses the issue raised by Snow and others of the divorce between science and the humanities and their respective views of the mental world. Edelman previews differences getting dissolved -much in the line of Wilson's consilience- by considering their grounding in brain operation. He also summarily describes their research on brain-based devices that may -somehow- become conscious if properly based on the right, non-computational, organisation.
Value for time: 9Main value: Personal point of view
|
|
| Last Updated ( Sunday, 18 November 2007 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
