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Mind Out of Matter

Topics in the Physical Foundations of Consciousness and Cognition

  • Book
  • © 1998

Overview

Authors:
  1. Gregory R. Mulhauser

    1. Applied Research and Technology, British Telecom Laboratories, Martlesham Heath, England
      Department of Philosophy, University of Glasgow, Scotland

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Part of the book series: Studies in Cognitive Systems (COGS, volume 20)

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Frontal Assault

    • Gregory R. Mulhauser
    Pages 1-14

  3. Zombies and Their Look-Alikes

    • Gregory R. Mulhauser
    Pages 15-30

  4. Information, Complexity, and Representation

    • Gregory R. Mulhauser
    Pages 31-53

  5. A Rose, By Any Other Name (Or Description)

    • Gregory R. Mulhauser
    Pages 54-71

  6. Functional Systems

    • Gregory R. Mulhauser
    Pages 72-102

  7. Self Models

    • Gregory R. Mulhauser
    Pages 103-140

  8. Schrödinger’ s Cat is Dead

    • Gregory R. Mulhauser
    Pages 141-170

  9. Building Conscious Data Structures

    • Gregory R. Mulhauser
    Pages 171-207

  10. Chaos, Computability, and Real Life

    • Gregory R. Mulhauser
    Pages 208-235

  11. My ‘Hidden’ Agenda

    • Gregory R. Mulhauser
    Pages 236-255

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 257-291
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Keywords

About this book

Mind Out of Matter aims to transform the way we think about consciousness and the physical world. Unlike many contemporary volumes, it develops a robust and philosophically satisfying account of the mind/body relationship without doing violence to fundamental physics. It expunges popular but ludicrous assumptions about the `in principle' capabilities of cognizers and, with the help of tools from mathematics and scientific fields, supplants flawed notions of representation, function, and mental state with objective and physically grounded alternatives. It debunks quantum theories of consciousness, constructs a simple zombie recipe, and evaluates recent research on chaotic analogue networks. This book is indispensable for readers in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence, and for mathematicians applying complexity theory or information theory to biological cognition.
Audience: General academic/university libraries, plus university departmental libraries in philosophy, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and computer science. Researchers and specialists in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, artificial life, complexity theory, and information theory. Researchers in the telecommunications industry.

Reviews

Professional endorsements:
`You've read the rest, now try the best. Mulhauser takes on a wild safari tour of the outer limits of mind science. There are a lot of dangerous ideas out there; many a good mind has come back worse for the encounter. Mulhauser's technical sophistication and philosophical sensitivity make him the ideal guide. No metaphysical snake-oil here; just unswerving good sense at the frontiers of cognitive science.'
Tim van Gelder, University of Melbourne
`One of the first serious applications of algorithmic information theory; fun to read!'
G.J. Chaitin, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
`Though I still regard myself to live in what Mulhauser calls `Platonic Heaven' (he would place me - as someone who believes that my mental gymnastics go beyond the physical and the computable - in `Platonic Hell'), reading his book was an absolute joy. It is a remarkable blend of technical know-how, smooth prose, and stimulating examples. This book can give readers command over the relevant formal landscape, while simultaneously engaging them in good old-fashioned philosophical reflection.'
Selmer Bringsjord, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
`We all know that chaos, neural nets, and consciousness must be connected. Mulhauser's challenging book gives us the first thought-out account of what the connections could be.'
Adam Morton, University of Bristol
`It is engagingly written, and Mulhauser is well informed, acute, and enthusiastic.'
Robert Kirk in Philosophical Books, July 2000

Authors and Affiliations

  • Applied Research and Technology, British Telecom Laboratories, Martlesham Heath, England

    Gregory R. Mulhauser

  • Department of Philosophy, University of Glasgow, Scotland

    Gregory R. Mulhauser

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Mind Out of Matter

  • Book Subtitle: Topics in the Physical Foundations of Consciousness and Cognition

  • Authors: Gregory R. Mulhauser

  • Series Title: Studies in Cognitive Systems

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5104-7

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1998

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-5103-0Published: 31 July 1998

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-010-6144-5Published: 05 October 2012

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-011-5104-7Published: 06 December 2012

  • Series ISSN: 0924-0780

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIX, 291

  • Topics: Philosophy of Mind, Artificial Intelligence, Theory of Computation, Philosophy of Science

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