The return of consciousness: new science on old questions

"Consciousness is a scientific problem that is unlike any other. Our own consciousness, as Descartes noted, is the most indubitable feature of our existence. It is the most precious one, as well: consciousness is life itself, and for most people having their bodies kept alive in a vegetative state is no better than dying." -- Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology,
Harvard University

Consciousness is a unique scientific problem. To begin, there is no general agreement about the definition of the subject of study. Opinions are divided about how – with which methods – it should be approached. For many decades it was forgotten by academia, buried by the regime of behaviourism and cognitive science, but has now come to the fore again and become a relevant topic in circles working at the frontier of science. This re-issued collection of essays from 2016 introduces a new text by Dr. Christof Koch that outlines the developments in the field since the original publication and features an updated foreword by Kurt Almqvist. This is a landmark publication in the history of consciousness science, which continues to intrigue to this day. Contributing writers: Susan Blackmore, Paul Broks, Amber D. Carpenter, Patricia Smith Churchland, Andy Clark, Owen Flanagan, Michael S. Gazzaniga, Sakari Kallio, Julian Kiverstein, Christoph Koch, Thomas Metzinger, Thomas Nagel, Antti Revonsuo, Nicholas D. Schiff, Anil K. Seth, Galen Strawson, Naotsugu Tsuchiya, Michael Tye, Max Velmans and Marieke van Vugt.