Insightful Concepts on the Mind-Body Connection
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n A Universe of Consciousness (Basic Books, NY, 2000), Gerald Edelman and Giulio Tononi face the mind-body problem straight up, guiding the readers hand-byhand through a fascinating and exciting journey of 222 intense pages. The subject of consciousness ("How Matter Becomes Imagination" is the subtitle of the volume) is arguably the hardest and most debated issue in the history of philosophy. The authors confidently take up the challenge shielded by a solid framework of neurobiology and brandishing sharp and original ideas. They emerge as winners with an excellent book that will become a classic in the field. Edelman is not new to this arena: his The Remembered Present: A Biological Theory of Consciousness, published in 1989 also by Basic Books, explores several of the ideas that are used in A Universe of Consciousness. This new book, however, is explicitly and uniquely aimed at the very core of consciousness, i.e., the raw feelings of awareness, or qualia.
A Universe of Consciousness is a true pleasure to read, thanks to a clear and enjoyable writing style and an excellent organization of the ideas. The arguments are neatly laid out, with a good balance of everyday metaphors and accurate scientific descriptions and a catchy use of mild rhetoric. The most technical and subtle aspects of the discussion are left to notes at the end of the book, which are complemented by the bibliographic references. As a consequence, the book is accessible at many levels, from the nonexpert to the academic. The book is divided in six parts and 17 chapters. Each part is introduced by a one-page explanation of the basic terminology and the specific aims of the proposed ideas. Additionally, every single chapter is preceded by a summary or "abstract" (in the style of scientific articles). Those readers for whom this book is the first introduction to the themes of consciousness and/or neurobiology may benefit from a preliminary reading of the preface, the introductions to the Parts, and the summaries to the Chapters before taking up the complete book.