Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
November 1, 1998
J R Searle
The neurosciences have advanced to the point that we can now treat consciousness as a scientific problem like any other. The problem is to explain how brain processes cause consciousness and how consciousness is realized in the brain. Progress is impeded by a number of philosophical mistakes, and the aim of this paper is to remove nine of those mistakes: (i) consciousness cannot be defined;...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
October 1, 1998
Human nature and the nature of reality: conceptual challenges from consciousness research.
Neuropsychologia
October 1, 1998
M C Corballis
Although Sperry's empirical science reinforced a materialist view of the relation between mind and brain, his concept of an emergent consciousness that could causally influence neural function is reminiscent of Cartesian dualism, purportedly allowing for free will, individual responsibility for action and a synthesis of science with moral and religious values. Yet Sperry insisted that his view...
The Neuroscientist
September 1, 1998
S. Zeki
The primate visual brain is characterized by a set of parallel, multistage systems that are specialized to process different attributes of the visual scene. They occupy spatially distinct positions in the visual brain and do not project to a unique common area. These processing systems are also perceptual systems, because the result of activity in each leads to the perception of the relevant...
China review international
September 1, 1998
Sor‐hoon Tan
1 citation
FEATURES Julia Ching. Mysticism and Kingship in China: The Heart ofChinese Wisdom . New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. xxi, 302 pp. Hardcover $64.95, ISBN 0-521-46293-2. Paperback $22.95, 1SBN 0-521-46828-0. Mysticism and Kingship in China approaches Chinese intellectual history from the central thesis that mysticism—the ecstatic communion between man and the cosmos —lies at the center...
Perspectives in biology and medicine
September 1, 1998
Bruce Greyson
43 citations
BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES BRUCE GREYSON* Near-death experiences (NDEs) are profound psychological events with transcendental or mystical elements typically occurring to individuals close to death or in situations of intense physical or emotional danger. Such experiences, once regarded as meaningless hallucinations, have become the subject of serious study by medical and other...
Psychiatry
August 1, 1998
Ross Levin, Rebecca Stiritz Daly
22 citations
There have been numerous reports in the literature on the descriptive similarities between a severe nightmare and an acute psychotic episode. Nightmares may be a prelude to psychotic decompensation, and it has been suggested that frequent lifelong nightmares may even be diagnostic of an underlying vulnerability to psychosis. In this report, we present a case study of a 40-year old female...
August 1, 1998
Leonard C. Anyanwu
Meditation includes a variety of techniques that share a common conscious effort to focus attention in a non-analytic way. In terms of its goals, meditation is a state of completely focused attention devoid of external thoughts--a state of heightened choice-less awareness. This study was designed to: (1) Identify and critically review professional literature on the effectiveness of meditation;...
Journal of Neuroscience
July 15, 1998
B Adams, Bita Moghaddam
The behavioral syndrome produced by phencyclidine (PCP) and its analog ketamine represents a pharmacological model for some aspects of schizophrenia. Despite the multifaceted properties of these drugs, the main mechanism for their psychotomimetic and cognitive-impairing effects has been thought heretofore to involve the corticolimbic dopamine system. The present study examined the temporal...
July 1, 1998
C. Rawnsley
Voegelin was deeply concerned about a spiritual crisis of consciousness in the Western world as well as the threat of totalitarianism growing in Europe. The realisation led him to the question of ideologies which he considered as attempts to form a closed society. He argued that philosophy should be as Plato and Aristotle envisaged a science of human nature. The discovery by Plato and Aristotle...