Abstract
The paper considers a Darwinian approach to the traditional mind-body problem and the problem of consciousness, called ‘neural Darwinism’. It describes essential features of consciousness and brain structures, putting strong emphasis not just on the action of brain regions but also on their interaction. The theory of neural Darwinism describes the emergence of consciousness, using key notions of Darwin’s theory. According to this theory the brain is a selectional system; it consists of vast repertoires of neurons and their connections, given rise to a great number of dynamic states. In this way the mind is ‘entailed’ by the brain.
This article first appeared in Dædalus (Summer 2006, 23–32), reprinted by permission of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Quine, W.V.: Quiddities: An Intermittently Philosophical Dictionary, pp. 132–133. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1987)
Penrose, R.: The Emperor’s New Mind. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1989)
Edelman, G.M.: The Remembered Present: A Biological Theory of Consciousness. Basic Books, New York (1989)
Dalton, T.C., Baars, B.J.: Consciousness regained: the scientific restoration of mind and brain. In: Dalton, T.C., Evans, R.B. (eds.) The Life Cycle of Psychological Ideas, pp. 203–247. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York (2004)
Edelman, G.M.: Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On the Matter of the Mind. Basic Books, New York (1992)
Edelman, G.M.: Wider Than the Sky: The Phenomenal Gift of Consciousness. Yale University Press, New Haven/London (2004)
Damasio, A.R.: The Feeling of What Happens. Harcourt Brace, New York (1999)
Searle, J.R.: Consciousness and Language. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2002)
Srinivasan, R., Russell, D.P., Edelman, G.M., Tononi, G.: Increased synchronization of magnetic responses during conscious perception. J. Neurosci. 19, 5435–5448 (1999)
Quine, W.V.: Ontological Relativity and Other Essays. Columbia University Press, New York (1969), Ch. 3
Krichmar, J.L., Edelman, G.M.: Machine psychology: autonomous behaviour, perceptual categorization and conditioning in a brain-based device. Cereb. Cortex 12, 818–830 (2002)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Edelman, G.M. (2012). The Embodiment of Mind. In: Brinkworth, M., Weinert, F. (eds) Evolution 2.0. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20496-8_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20496-8_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-20495-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-20496-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)