Daniel Dennett: Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness

LINK - pdf/eng

Consciousness puzzles scientists and philosophers as much as it baffles the rest of us. Elusive, enigmatic, and difficult to define and probe, consciousness has a peculiar quality that rouses people to insist that somehow it differs from the rest of the physical world and that there is something unique about each person's subjective experience.

Enter Daniel Dennett, a philosopher who directs the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. In his provocative book, he explores several hot debates over whether consciousness can ever be explained--such as our inability to objectively study subjective experiences or qualia, the impenetrable properties of sensations. Despite our stubborn feelings that consciousness involves something extra--a spirit, soul, miracle or magic--Dennett contends that consciousness is no more than an intriguing but inadequately explained aspect of neural activity.

Consciousness is often celebrated as a mystery, he writes. I think this tradition is not just a mistake, but a serious obstacle to ongoing scientific research that can explain consciousness, just as deeply and completely as it can explain other natural phenomena: metabolism, reproduction, continental drift, light, gravity and so on. Like a persuasive magic show, consciousness fools us into believing that the brain's seamless illusion is real, even though consciousness is a purely biological phenomenon.

To make his point, Dennett works through various thought experiments. One involves imagining a perfect zombie that exactly replicates a person's perceptual and neural processes. Should there be any real difference between the zombie and the conscious person, he wonders? He also attacks the claim that a mechanistic theory of consciousness could not explain such a difference, if it existed. Another thought experiment involves imagining Martian scientists studying human consciousness. In principle, he says, Martians should be able to observe and inspect the mechanisms underlying earthly conscious experiences and, in some sense, grasp what it is like to be human.

In time, Dennett believes people will realize that third-person methods of the natural sciences suffice to investigate consciousness as completely as any phenomenon in nature can be investigated. Like vitalism--the 18thcentury belief that some inexplicable force animates living creatures-- consciousness will ultimately yield to scientific explanation. 

Atheism: A Very Short Introduction - Julian Baggini

LINK

Atheism: A Very Short Introduction By Julian Baggini
Publisher: O U P 2003 | 125 Pages | ISBN: 0192804243 | PDF | 2 MB

Atheism is often considered to be a negative, dark, and pessimistic belief which is characterised by a rejection of values and purpose and a fierce opposition to religion. Atheism: A Very Short Introduction sets out to dispel the myths that surround atheism and show how a life without religious belief can be positive, meaningful, and moral. It also confronts the failure of officially atheist states in the Twentieth Century. The book presents an intellectual case for atheism that rests as much upon positive arguments for its truth as on negative arguments against religion.

Stephen Eric Bronner "Reclaiming the Enlightenment: Toward a Politics of Radical Engagement"

LINK

Stephen Eric Bronner, "Reclaiming the Enlightenment: Toward a Politics of Radical Engagement"
| ISBN: 0231126085 | 2004 | PDF | 201 pages | 1,06 mb

This book tackles an obvious yet profound problem of modern political life: the disorientation of intellectuals and activists on the left. As the study of political history and theory has been usurped by cultural criticism, a confusion over the origins and objectives of progressive politics has been the result.

Specifically, it has become fashionable for intellectuals to attack the Enlightenment for its imperialism, eurocentrism, and scientism, and for the sexism and racism of some of its major representatives. Although the fact that individual thinkers harbored such prejudices is irrefutable, Stephen Bronner argues that reducing the Enlightenment ethos to these beliefs is wholly unsustainable.

With its championing of democracy, equality, cosmopolitanism, and reason -- and its vociferous attacks on popular prejudice, religious superstition, and arbitrary abuses of power -- the Enlightenment was once hailed as the foundation of all modern, progressive politics. But in 1947, this perspective was dramatically undermined when Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno published their classic work, Dialectic of Enlightenment, which claims that the Enlightenment was the source of totalitarianism and the worst excesses of modernity.

Reclaiming the Enlightenment from purely philosophical and cultural interpretations, Bronner shows that its notion of political engagement keeps democracy fresh and alive by providing a practical foundation for fostering institutional accountability, opposing infringements on individual rights, instilling an enduring commitment to social reform, and building a cosmopolitan sensibility.

This forceful and timely reinterpretation of the Enlightenment and its powerful influence on contemporary political life is a resounding wake-up call to critics on both the left and the right.

Mini-guía para el Pensamiento crítico: Conceptos y herramientas

Mini-guía para el Pensamiento crítico: Conceptos y herramientas - Richard Paul y Linda Elder
PDF (154kb - ESP)


Todo el mundo piensa; es parte de nuestra naturaleza. Pero, mucho de nuestro pensar, por sí solo, es arbitrario, distorsionado, parcializado, desinformado o prejuiciado. Sin embargo, nuestra calidad de vida y de lo que producimos, hacemos o construimos depende, precisamente, de la calidad de nuestro pensamiento. El pensamiento de mala calidad cuesta tanto en dinero como en calidad de vida. La excelencia en el pensamiento, sin embargo, debe ejercitarse de forma sistemática.

Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction

LINK

Adam J. Silverstein - Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction
Publisher: Oxfоrd Univеrsity Prеss | 2010-02-01 | ISBN: 0199545723 | PDF | 144 pages | 2.71 MB

Opening with a lucid overview of the rise and spread of Islam, from the seventh to the twenty-first century, this Very Short Introduction introduces the story of Islamic history, charting the evolution of what was originally a small, localized community of believers into an international religion with over a billion adherents.

The book examines how Islam rose from the obscurity of seventh-century Arabia to the forefront of modern global concerns, and it highlights how we know what we claim to know about Islam's rise and development. Historian Adam J. Silverstein also discusses the peoples--Arabs, Persians, and Turks--who shaped Islamic history, and sheds light on three representative institutions--the mosque, jihad, and the caliphate--that highlight Islam's diversity over time.

Finally, the book analyzes the roles that Islamic history has played in both religious and political contexts, while stressing the unique status that history enjoys among Muslims, especially compared to its lowly place in Western societies where history is often seen as little more than something that is not to be repeated.

James O. Prochaska and John C. Norcross, "Systems of Psychotherapy: A Transtheoretical Analysis"

LINK

mirror

James O. Prochaska and John C. Norcross, "Systems of Psychotherapy: A Transtheoretical Analysis"
Broo ks C ole | 2009 | ISBN: 049560187X | 624 pages | PDF | 7,5 MB

Systematic and balanced, this comprehensive text uses a wealth of clinical case illustrations to help readers understand a wide variety of psychotherapies including psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, existential, person-centered, experiential, interpersonal, exposure, behavioral, cognitive, systemic, multicultural, and integrative. The Seventh Edition thoroughly analyzes 15 leading systems of psychotherapy and briefly surveys another 30, thus providing a broader scope than is available in most textbooks.

Prochaska and Norcross explore each system's theory of personality, theory of psychopathology, and resulting therapeutic process and relationship. By doing so, they demonstrate how much psychotherapy systems agree on the processes producing change, while showing how they disagree on the content that needs to be changed. To bring these similarities and differences to life, the authors also present the limitations, practicalities, and outcome research of each system of psychotherapy.

Philosophy of Mind A-Z

LINK

mirror

Philosophy of Mind A-Z
Edinburgh University Press | July 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0748620958 | 192 pages | PDF | 1.3 mb

From Plato and Leibniz to externalism and the frame problem, from Husserl to neural Darwinism, from mental causation to the problem of consciousness, this guide outlines the main positions, key figures, important terms, and longstanding debates of the philosophy of mind.

Burton Porter, "What the Tortoise Taught Us: The Story of Philosophy"

LINK

mirror

Burton Porter, "What the Tortoise Taught Us: The Story of Philosophy"
R.wman & L.ttlefield Publishers | 2011 | ISBN: 1442205512 | 200 pages | PDF | 1,3 MB

What the Tortoise Taught Us offers a lively, concise journey through western philosophy that explores the lives of major philosophers, their ideas, and how their thinking continues to influence our lives today. Using a chronological approach, Burton Porter shows how various philosophers address life's big questions. By putting each philosopher and their ideas into historical context, he helps us understand how certain ideas developed based on the thinking of the time, and how those ideas have influenced our modern perceptions.

Using familiar language and interesting anecdotes, Porter provides us with an extremely readable and lively history that takes themes that characterize each age to reflect on the greater human experience. The book includes the philosophies and lives of the ancient philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and continues through time into the Middle Ages with St. Thomas Aquinas, to the Renaissance, and beyond.

Porter explores the metaphysics of Descartes and Hobbs; the epistemology of Hume and Berkeley, and the ethics of Kant and Mill among others. Finally he concludes with contemporary issues, including racism, abortion and modern feminism. Porter is able to explain these complex ideas in a clear, simple, and straightforward way.

What the Tortoise Taught Us is a balanced and approachable look at life's basic questions through the eyes of the philosophers that have helped shape modern thought.

Bart Ehrman - Jesus, Interrupted (2009)

PDF

“Ehrman’s ability to translate scholarship for a popular audience has made the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill a superstar in the publishing world” (IndyWeek )

“For both scholars and the masses who read about religion, Bart D. Ehrman needs no introduction . . . He adds the personal to the scholarly for some of his works, detailing how he went from a Moody Bible Institute-educated fundamentalist evangelical to an agnostic . (Durham Herald-Sun )

“There’s something delicious (for nonbelievers, anyway) about the implacable, dispassionate way that Ehrman reveals how the supposedly “divine truth” of Christianity was historically constructed.”

Bart_D._Ehrman

A history of roman art

LINK

Fred S. Kleiner, "A History of Roman Art"
W,...rth P.blishing | ISBN: 0495909874 | 2010 | 385 pages | PDF | 74 MB

A History of Roman Art (Enhanced Edition) is a lavishly-illustrated survey of the art of Rome and the Roman Empire from the time of Romulus to the death of Constantine, presented in its historical, political, and social context. This Enhanced Edition has added coverage on Etruscan art in the beginning of the text. All aspects of Roman art and architecture are treated, including private art and domestic architecture, the art of the Eastern and Western provinces, the art of freedmen, and the so-called minor arts, including cameos, silverware, and coins.

Auditory Neuroscience: Making Sense of Sound

LINK



Jan Schnupp, Israel Nelken, Andrew J King, "Auditory Neuroscience: Making Sense of Sound"

Publisher: The MIT Press | ISBN 10: 026211318X | 2010 | PDF | 366 pages | 4.9 MB

An integrated overview of hearing and the interplay of physical, biological, and psychological processes underlying it.

Libro "Excusas para no pensar" de Eduardo Punset

LINK (PDF + epub - 10mb / ESP)

Desde el cómo empezó todo al compendio de fórmulas que nos ayuden a ser más felices en un mundo mejor, pasando por las claves de nuestras emociones, la complejidad del cerebro o los secretos de la Tierra, Eduardo Punset aporta sus reflexiones claras, amenas y comprensibles en torno a esas siempre palpitantes cuestiones. Y, además, amplia su campo de respuestas a ámbitos que hoy nos preocupan especialmente a todos, como la crisis económica y la incidencia de la política en el día a día de los ciudadanos. Hoy, más que nunca, no hay excusas para no pensar.

David Canter - Forensic psychology: A very short introduction

David Canter - Forensic psychology: A very short introduction
Oxfоrd Univеrsity Prеss | PDF | 145 pages | 1.28 MB

LINK

Mirror


Lie detection, offender profiling, jury selection, insanity in the law, predicting the risk of re-offending , the minds of serial killers, and many other topics that fill news and fiction are all aspects of the rapidly developing area of scientific psychology broadly known as Forensic Psychology.

This fascinating Very Short Introduction discusses all the aspects of psychology that are relevant to the legal and criminal process as a whole. It includes explanations of criminal behavior and criminality, including the role of mental disorder in crime, and it reveals how forensic psychology contributes to helping investigate the crime and catching the perpetrators.

David Canter also explains how psychologists provide guidance to all those involved in civil and criminal court proceedings, including both the police and the accused, and what expert testimony can be provided by a psychologist about the offender at the trial.

Finally, Canter describes how forensic psychology is used, particularly in prisons, to help in the management, treatment and rehabilitation of offenders, once they have been convicted.

Libro "The believing brain" de Michael Shermer

In this work synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist, historian of science, and the world's best-known skeptic Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation. Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths. Amazon

File size: 4.58 MB
Format: .epub + .pdf

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5TEWB5SD

o

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1194266454

Libro "The Psychopath Test" de Jon Ronson

"The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. Jon Ronson's exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world's top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and nonverbal clues. And so Ronson, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, enters the corridors of power. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud in Coxsackie, New York; a legendary CEO whose psychopathy has been speculated about in the press; and a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane who insists he's sane and certainly not a psychopath."

LINK - fileserve

Password: Ploder1

"Complejidad y el Caos: Una exploración antropológica" (2006) de Carlos Reynoso

PDF

Las mal llamadas teorías del caos y de la complejidad, elaboradas en las dos últimas décadas del siglo XX y en lo que va del tercer milenio, han aportado numerosos elementos de juicio, elaboraciones algorítmicas y herramientas de trabajo, susceptibles de utilizarse productivamente en las ciencias sociales. Algunos principios de la dinámica no lineal, tales como la auto-organización, la sensitividad a las condiciones iniciales en escenarios caóticos, las complejidades emergentes de la aplicación recursiva de reglas simples, la independencia de escala y las clases de universalidad, deberían ser bien conocidos por los investigadores, cualesquiera sean sus orientaciones teóricas. Lo mismo se aplica a los algoritmos complejos, principalmente a los sistemas adaptativos, las metaheurísticas evolutivas, las distribuciones de ley de potencia, las redes SOM, la criticalidad auto-organizada y por supuesto la geometría fractal.

En este libro se introducen los principales algoritmos que constituyen ese espacio científico, examinándolos desde el punto de vista de las ciencias sociales pero con un espíritu fundamentalmente transdisciplinario. También se practica una clara demarcación entre las prácticas científicas genuinas y las apropiaciones discursivas y programáticas del campo de la complejidad, tales como la autopoiesis, el paradigma de la complejidad de Edgar Morin, las elucubraciones new age de Fritjof Capra y la investigación social de segundo orden.

carlosreynoso.com.ar

Libro "La obsesión antiamericana" de Jean-Francoise Revel

LINK - pdf/rapidshare/1mb/ESP

Jean-Francois Revel is a distinguished French writer who has, for nearly all his working life, chosen the rockiest path any intellectual can choose: the path of true non-conformity (as distinct from the ersatz, self-described non-conformists one finds on any university campus in the Western world). Specifically, Revel has chosen to confront directly - not only in this volume, but in several earlier books that touched on the issue - the entrenched anti-Americanism of an entire generation of European intellectuals, particularly French ones. Like his countryman Emile Zola (whose explosive article "J'accuse" attacked French society's handling of the Alfred Dreyfus affair), he has dared to defend an unpopular scapegoat and, in so doing, has probably done more to earn the gratitude of Americans than any Frenchman since General Lafayette, who came to the aid of the American revolutionary cause.

A House Built on Sand: Exposing Postmodernist Myths About Science

PDF eng/2.52mb

Cultural critics say that 'science is politics by other means,' arguing that the results of scientific inquiry are profoundly shaped by the ideological agendas of powerful elites. Physicist Alan Sokal recently poked fun at these claims by foisting a sly parody of the genre on the unwitting editors of the cultural studies journal Social Text, touching off a still-unabated torrent of heated discussion. This hard-hitting collection picks up where Sokal left off. The essayists offer crisp and detailed critiques of case studies offered by the cultural critics as evidence that scientific results tell as more about social context than they do about the natural world. Pulling no punches, they identify numerous crude factual blunders (e.g. that Newton never performed any experiments) and egregious errors of omission, such as the attempt to explain the slow development of fluid dynamics solely on the terms of gender bias. Where there are positive aspects of a flawed account,or something to be learned from it, they do not hesitate to say so. Their target is shoddy scholarship. Comprising new essays by distinguished scholars of history, philosophy and science (including Sokal himself), this book raises lively debate to a new level of seriousness.

Read Maniac: programa para leer libros en el celular.

LINK - megaupload/3.97mb

Read Maniac, una vez instalado en la PC permite convertir cualquier archivo con extensión .txt en una aplicación Java llamada "midlet" (archivos .jar y .jad) que se puede instalar en tu móvil, y que te permite leer este libro cada vez que tengas un tiempo libre y en cualquier lugar.

guía - manual

web oficial

Libro "100 ideas" de Mario Bunge (2006)

PDF


Con claridad y sencillez, Mario Bunge escribe en 100 ideas sobre ciencia, política, arte o, simplemente, sobre la vida cotidiana