This interdisciplinary book ties the historical work of Descartes to his successors through current research and critical overviews on the neuroscience of consciousness, the brain, and cognition. This text is the first historical survey to focus on the cohesions and discontinuities between historical and contemporary thinkers working in philosophy, physiology, psychology, and neuroscience. The book introduces and analyzes early discussions of consciousness, such as: metaphysical alternatives to scientific explanations of consciousness and its connection to brain activity; claims about the possibilities and limits of neuroscientific accounts of consciousness and cognition; and the proposition of a “non-reductive naturalism” concerning phenomenal consciousness and rationality. The author assesses the contributions of early philosophers and scientists on brain, consciousness and cognition, among them: Descartes, Malebranche, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Newton, Haller, Kant, Fechner, Helmholtz and du Bois-Reymond. The work of these pioneers is related to that of modern researchers in physiology, psychology, neuroscience and philosophy of mind, including: Freud, Hilary Putnam, Herbert Feigl, Gerald Edelman, Jean-Pierre Changeux, Daniel Dennett and David Chalmers, amongst others. This text appeals to researchers and advanced students in the field.

Does science argue against the existence of the human soul? Many scientists and scholars believe the whole is more than the sum of the parts. This book uses information and systems theory to describe the "more" that does not reduce to the parts. One sees this in the synapses”or apparently empty gaps between the neurons in one's brain”where informative relationships give rise to human mind, culture, and spirituality. Drawing upon the disciplines of cognitive science, computer science, neuroscience, general systems theory, pragmatic philosophy, and Christian theology, Mark Graves reinterprets the traditional doctrine of the soul as form of the body to frame contemporary scientific study of the human soul.

Break through old patterns of boredom and lack of fulfilment to discover your most brilliant life! Your intuition holds the key to a truly inspired life. It can, however, bring with it an increased sensitivity, so overwhelming that some find it hard to operate in day-to-day life. Others feel foolish or weird when acknowledging their intuition. In a world focussed on science we have amazing technology and vast physical abundance. However, ignoring our intuition has deprived us of untold benefits in our careers, well-being, and relationships. The Soul's Brain reveals the principles of conscious intuition. These principles are part of the structure of our universe, forming patterns in our lives which are as fundamental as breathing. Knowing these patterns allows you to translate between intuition and science. Understanding the neurology and logic of your intuition will allow you live a truly brilliant and inspired life. Catherine Wilkins guides you through the nine-step process to conscious intuition. You will learn how tuning into your intuition is a skill like any other--all it takes is knowledge and practice. Science and spirituality have a common language. You don't need to choose between science and intuition, you can use both together to achieve​your full potential.

How should we speak of bodies and souls? In Coming to Mind, Lenn E. Goodman and D. Gregory Caramenico pick their way through the minefields of materialist reductionism to present the soul not as the brain’s rival but as its partner. What acts, they argue, is what is real. The soul is not an ethereal wisp but a lively subject, emergent from the body but inadequately described in its terms. Rooted in some of the richest philosophical and intellectual traditions of Western and Eastern philosophy, psychology, literature, and the arts and the latest findings of cognitive psychology and brain science—Coming to Mind is a subtle manifesto of a new humanism and an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the human person. Drawing on new and classical understandings of perception, consciousness, memory, agency, and creativity, Goodman and Caramenico frame a convincing argument for a dynamic and integrated self capable of language, thought, discovery, caring, and love.

From its beginnings in prehistoric religion to its central importance in Western faith traditions, the soul has been a constant source of fascination and speculation. Brain & Belief seeks to understand mankind's obsession with life, death, and the afterlife. Exploring the latest insights from neuroscience, psychopharmacology, and existential psychology, McGraw exhaustively researches the various takes on the human soul and considers the meaning of the soul in a postmodern world. The ambitious scope of the book is balanced by a deeply personal voice whose sympathy for both science and religion is resonant.

This book takes you on a journey that unpacks and demystifies what spiritual growth is and how it unfolds. The aim is to set you on your own path toward genuine, personal spiritual transformation. The book provides all the tools you need - biblical, scientific, and practical - so that you can develop your own pathway for spiritual growth. What is unique about Victor Copan's approach to spiritual growth is that he explores recent findings of brain research as well as scientific research on habitformation and brings them into conversation with the process of spiritual formation. Research on the brain and on habit formation has uncovered significant insights about the process and dynamics of human transformation that can be fruitfully incorporated into our own pursuit of spiritual transformation. Tapping into this research allows us to work in concert with how God designed humans to function - body, soul, and spirit.

Written for the general public, God Soul Mind Brain explores the controversial relationship between science and religion by first dismissing the "science versus religion"debate as outdated and unnecessary. The cutting-edge field of social neuroscience explains how our perceptions of our own consciousness, of other people's minds, and of spirits and gods depend on machinery in the brain that evolved to make us socially intelligent animals. In clear prose without technical jargon, Graziano discusses his and others' findings in this 20-years-old field of study, and the implications for human spirituality and religion, and God, and how these elements relate to the science of the brain, Graziano presents an entirely new view of religion and science. Book jacket.

This work summarizes results from neuroscience and recent work with artificial neural networks that together suggest a unified set of answers to questions about how the brain actually works; how it sustains a thinking, feeling, dreaming self; and how it sustains a self-conscious person.

The relationship between our living body and our soul, our mental expressions of life and our physical environment, are both classical topics for discussion and ones which currently present themselves as part of a truly exciting philosophical debate: are we today still able to speak of a “soul”? And what is meant by a (living) body (German: “Leib”)? Does our brain dictate what we will and do? Or do we have free will? Why are we the same people tomorrow that we were yesterday? Given the discoveries of the modern neural sciences, can human beings still be understood in the context of the unity of body and soul? Or should we rather define ourselves as mind-brain beings (German: Gehirn-Geist-Gestalten)? Marcus Knaup explores these questions and discusses the most relevant approaches and arguments concerning the (living) body-soul debate. His own approach to current chal-lenges presented by modern brain research emanates from his bringing together Aristotelian Hylomorphism and phenomenology of the living body (German: “Leibphänomenologie”).

This is a unique set of multidisciplinary reflections on how the neurosciences shape our understanding of religious experience and religious institutions. Twelve scholars and scientists assess how advances in the neurosciences affect our traditional sense of mind, self, and soul.