--- Aristo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Santosh, any suggestions for pertinent PS books? >
Hi Aristo, To you and to others who have expressed an interest in this subject privately, here is a short list of popular books you might want to read: Consciousness: An Introduction by Susan Blackmore Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul by Francis Crick Descartes' Error by Antonio Damasio Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee If you want to read a short but nearly comprehensive discussion on mind-brain philosophy from a historical standpoint, please see: Matter and Consciousness by Paul Churchland Now regarding your opinion that getting rid of dualistic belief is the last step towards 100% atheism, I have to say that I disagree. There are many theists, some of them scientists who do not believe in dualism because of the strong scientific evidence against it. These people contend, and rightly so, that the mind is a natural phenomenon, and therefore eminently amenable to scientific study, while God is a supernatural entity, and not so amenable. So their compartmentalized faith comes into action in the latter case. Indeed, I am told by my devout non-dualistic Catholic buddy and colleague that dualism in a slightly more general form is one of the oldest Christian heresies. We can find out more about this later. On the other hand, atheistic religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism and Confucianism believe very strongly in dualism. I understand that there are both monistic and dualistic Christian philosophers and many postmodern atheists who are dualists or even pluralists in the multiple worlds sense. Cheers, Santosh P.S. BTW, if you want to read a layman's book on the neuroscience of religious experiences, please read: Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief by Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili and Vince Rause Aristo wrote: > > In my opinion, getting rid of the concept of Dualism > is the last step > from a 99% Atheist (Agnostic) to a 100% Atheist. > > In my attempt to learn more about the sense or self > or "Consciousness" > a long time ago, I picked a copy of Roger Penrose's > "The Emperors new > Mind" but I found it digressing and did not manage > to complete the > book. Perhaps I should have picked up Dan Dennett's > bestseller > "Consciousness Explained". Although I've already > taken the last step, > I would still be interested to get the lowdown on > conciousness. >
