I Am Not A Brain

282 Pages·2017·1.36 MB·English

by  Markus Gabriel

Contents
Cover
Dedication
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
Mind and Geist
Elementary particles and conscious organisms
The decade of the brain
Can the mind be free in a brain scan?
The self as a USB stick
Neuromania and Darwinitis – the example of Fargo
Mind – brain – ideology
The cartography of self-interpretation
Notes
1 What is at Stake in the Philosophy of Mind?
Mind in the universe?
In the spirit of Hegel
The historical animal on the social stage
Why not everything, but at least something, is teleological
Notes
2 Consciousness
I see something that you do not see!
Neuronal thunderstorms and the arena of consciousness
Buddha, the snake and the bat – again
Surfing on the wave of neuro-Kantianism
Nothing is beyond our experience – or is it?
Faith, love, hope – are they all just illusions?
An altruist is lodged in every ego
Davidson’s dog and Derrida’s cat
Tasty consciousness
The intelligence of the robot vacuum cleaner
Strange Days – the noise of consciousness
What Mary still doesn’t know
The discovery of the universe in a monastery
Sensations are not subtitles to a Chinese movie
God’s-eye view
Notes
3 Self-Consciousness
How history can expand our consciousness
Monads in the mill
Bio is not always better than techno
How the clown attempted to get rid of omnipotence Self-consciousness in a circle
Notes
4 Who or What is This Thing We Call the Self?
The reality of illusions
Puberty-reductionism and the toilet theory
Self is god
Fichte: the almost forgotten grandmaster of the self
The three pillars of the science of knowledge
In the human being nature opens her eyes and sees that she exists
“Let Daddy take care of this”: Freud and Stromberg
Drives meet hard facts
Oedipus and the milk carton
Notes
5 Freedom
Can I will not to will what I will?
The self is not a one-armed bandit
Why cause and reason are not the same thing and what that has to do with tomato
sauce
Friendly smites meanie and defeats metaphysical pessimism
Human dignity is inviolable
On the same level as God or nature?
PS: There are no savages
Man is not a face drawn in the sand
Notes
Index
End User License Agreement
For Marisa Lux
Become who you are!

I am Not a Brain
Philosophy of Mind for the Twenty-First Century
Markus Gabriel
Translated by Christopher Turner
polity
First published in German as Ich ist nicht Gehirn. Philosophie des Geistes für das 21. Jahrhundert © by Ullstein
Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin. Published in 2015 by Ullstein Verlag.
This English edition © Polity Press, 2017
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publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1478-6
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gabriel, Markus, 1980- author.
Title: I am not a brain : philosophy of mind for the 21st century / Markus Gabriel.
Description: Malden, MA : Polity, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017010106 (print) | LCCN 2017030527 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509514779 (Mobi) | ISBN
9781509514786 (Epub) | ISBN 9781509514755 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy of mind. | Consciousness.
Classification: LCC BD418.3 (ebook) | LCC BD418.3 .G33 2017 (print) | DOC 128/.2--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017010106
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… as we remind ourselves that no age has been more skillful than our own in producing
myths of the understanding, an age that produces myths and at the same time wants to
eradicate all myths.
Søren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Anxiety