The Mysterious Flame: Conscious Minds in a Material World

(Paperback)

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One of our most original thinkers addresses the scientific world's premier question: What is the nature of consciousness. In recent years the nature of consciousnessour immediately known experienceshas taken its place as the most profound problem that science faces. Now in this brilliant and thoroughly accessible new book Colin McGinn takes a provocative position on this perplexing problem. Arguing that we can never truly "know" consciousnessthat the human intellect is simply not equipped to unravel this mysteryhe demonstrates that accepting this limitation in fact opens up a whole new field of investigation. In elegant prose, McGinn explores the implications of this Mysterian positionsuch as the new value it gives to the power of dreams and introspectionand challenges the reader with intriguing questions about the very nature of our minds and brains.

Author Bio

Colin McGinn is Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University. He is author of several books, including The Character of the Mind Moral Literacy Minds and Bodies: Philosophers and Their Ideas Ethics, Evil, and Fiction and Mental Content.