The Mysterious Flame Conscious Minds in a Material World [Paperback]

In recent years the nature of consciousness—our immediately known experiences—has 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 consciousness—that the human intellect is simply not equipped to unravel this mystery—he 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 position—such as the new value it gives to the power of dreams and introspection—and challenges the reader with intriguing questions about the very nature of our minds and brains.

Colin McGinnis 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.