Exploring Consciousness
By Rita Carter
2000, University of California Press / Weidenfeld & Nicolson,
Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA
319 pp. Illustrations, bibliography, index
ISBN: 0-520-23737-4
$34.95 / £20
By Amy Ione
PO Box 12748, Berkley,
CA 94712 USA
ione@diatrope.com
Rita Carter's Exploring Consciousness complements her Mapping the Mind,
published in 1998. In this second book Carter, a science writer, successfully
turns her investigations from the mind and brain to the somewhat more
philosophical domain of consciousness studies. Linking the two books
is the delectable layout and design of Weidenfeld and Nicolson. These
visuals enhance the text and immediately draw the reader to the book.
One example is the graphic depicting John Searle's famous Chinese Room.
So many have critiqued Searle's argument that it frequently seems there
is little to add to the ongoing debates. Although the visual doesn't
present new insights, it is so delightful that it seems something had
nonetheless been added to the discussion.
Turning to the text, one finds a representative group of ideas and contributions
from key players in the field such as O'Regan, Chalmers, Dennett, and
Blackmore (among others). Effectively integrating the spectrum of views,
the book successfully conveys that particular theories are firmly established
in consciousness studies, and that there is also much disagreement among
theorists. The book benefits from the way Carter allows the many points
of view to speak for themselves as they are used to structure the book's
presentation and scope. This does not translate into a linear textbook,
but is rather a mechanism that allows her to convey that the field is
not easily defined. As a result, the discussion is woven around a number
of trajectories and she never links them together in an easily characterized
form. This is not to say the writing is confused or amorphous. To the
contrary, it is because so many points of view are clearly stated that
the book succeeds in mirroring the interdisciplinary framework that
defines (or fails to define) consciousness studies. Overall the book's
format might be characterized as a mirror of consciousness if one adopts
a first-person perspective. If a third-person point of view is preferred,
the idea of a mirror of consciousness research is the more appropriate
characterization.
The format is perhaps best conveyed by an example of how the book works.
My favorite section, a part of the Hard Problem chapter, demonstrates
how the author balances points of view. Inserted in this chapter's general
description of the 'hard problem' are discussions of this 'problem'
by David Chalmers and Daniel Dennett. Placed face-to-face the two views
are, in effect, given equal weight. Chalmers, of course, has championed
the idea that we can never explain what he has termed the hard problem
of consciousness. This, according to Chalmers, is the problem of experience
and how physical processing gives rise to a rich inner life. He writes,
" It seems objectively unreasonable that it should, and yet it
does." (p. 50). Dennett, on the other hand, writes: "Chalmers'
attempt to sort the 'easy' problems of consciousness from the really
'hard problem' is not, I think, a useful contribution to research, but
a major misdirection of attention, an illusion-generator." (p.
51). Similarly, Stuart Hameroff and Alywn Scott debate their views on
quantum theories of mind.
In Exploring Consciousness, as in consciousness studies overall, art
is never adequately positioned. Like the prevailing two-culture (science
and the humanities) paradigm of this field overall, this book relegates
art to a secondary position. As is often is the case when the two-culture
model is adopted, art is utilized to explain many key points but rarely
discussed on its own terms. Even on the periphery, the inserted work
is effective and compelling. Common perceptual illusions and the well-known
drawings of autistics (e.g., Nadia) are in evidence. In addition, a
number of less widely circulated visuals offer explanations of scientific
research. For example, Bridget Riley's Cataract 3 (1967) adds a visual
element to Carter's explanation of how V5 firing gives the illusion
of movement. Mark Tansey's "The Innocent Eye Test" (1981)
comments on the idea that we use interpretive mechanisms to translate
the image of an animal on a canvas into the three-dimensional animal
we accept as a 'realistic' depiction when we view the canvas. Tansey's
painting was intended to commemorate an experiment of a cow failing
to respond to a painting of a cow. Six self-portraits by an Alzheimer
patient capture the degree to which the artist's idea of himself became
increasingly demented.
Equally illuminating in terms of the consciousness research agenda is
the discussion of the East/West, spiritual/scientific views of consciousness.
This is standard fare in consciousness studies and so rightly included.
However, in my opinion, this deeply ingrained way of formalizing some
of the unresolved philosophical issues too often seems to undermine
the field. In a global world that includes influences of African and
South American countries it is absurd to continue to characterize ideas
in terms of a nineteenth century East/West division. Moreover, when
this is bound up with spirituality, cultural diversity is further undermined.
Inevitably, as is the case in Exploring Consciousness, the next step
is to insert personal experiences to discuss why we need to address
the "spiritual" in consciousness studies. This, I believe,
is the Achilles heel of the field. To be sure, Carter's use of her own
experiences to explain this area of consciousness studies did not seem
inappropriate when one considers how the field has evolved. This section
did, however, bring to mind why consciousness has had so many problems
achieving credibility.
In summary, Exploring Consciousness is a beautiful, accessible, and
useful book. Ironically, it is the scope of the work and its diffuse
style that make the book so readable. Readers will not feel they need
to read straight through from beginning to end. Instead it is the kind
of book that allows the reader to move around from subject to subject
easily. For a coffee table book, Exploring Consciousness does a splendid
job of presenting the field. It is accessible, despite its non-linearity.
Although most of the thorny issues are put aside, the reader still walks
away with a good sense of the issues, the spectrum of ideas, and consciousness
studies in general. Readers who are just discovering this intriguing
subject will find the easy to read textual introduction welcoming. Newcomers
will also be pleased to find a bibliography that offers an avenue for
further exploration of the issues and debates. Although it is not a
textbook, nor intended to be one, Exploring Consciousness does offer
an compelling introduction to the range of views contemporary thinkers
bring to the ongoing mystery of consciousness.