Bibliothèque de L'IMIST/CNRST

Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-335) and index.

Introduction and overview -- Part 1 : Life. Order and life ; The definition of teleological concepts in non-teleological terms -- Part 2 : Brain and consciousness. Consciousness and self-consciousness ; The physical structure of the internal representations ; The neural correlates of the internal representations ; Self-awareness, imagination and memory ; Language and rational thought ; Mind and matter -- Part 3 : Culture. Deeper levels of consciousness (1) ; Deeper levels of consciousness (2) -- Part 4 : Appendices. Further applications of the concept of directive correlation ; Some basic concepts of set theory ; Generative and transformational grammars ; Some basic concepts of information theory ; Physical systems and casual relationships.

The relation between mind and brain can never be understood by science until the nature of consciousness and self-consciousness is clearly perceived as specific system-properties. In this volume the author tackles this problem in a rigorous analysis which begins with the general dynamics of living systems and leads the reader step-by-step towards firm conclusions about the physical processes of consciousness and the main categories of mental events. Finally the author moves from the cognitive to the affective, and proceeds to interpret a number of uniquely human sensibilities in the light of the general biological perspective he has established.

Description based on print version record.