The Pinnacle of Life: Consciousness and Self-Awareness in Humans and Animals
Dr. Denton is a keen biological observer (a physiologist by trade) of the phenomenon of consciousness both human and animal. Two things about this book that make it a worthwhile purchase. First is the discussion of experiments conducted on secondary awareness, or self-awareness as performed on higher primates. Second is Denton's interview with one of the last great metaphysical dualists known in our time, Sir John Eccles. His interview with natural historian Miriam Rothschild is very insightful reading as well.Denton seriously wants to know how mammalian neural machinery gives rise to what we call human consciousness and what its precursors are in our animal cousins. His work parallels that of American Gerald Edelman in some respects as the two scientists make hay of primary, sensual consciousness in contrast to secondary, cognitive awareness of primary sensual consciousness; otherwise known as self-awareness. Edelman goes into more detail but Denton fairly covers the gist of this distinction.Denton is clearly a materialst in his scientific view of brains and how they give rise to consciousness. He clearly states so when he ventures "consciousness is indivisibly a function of the brain...without the function of the brain there is no mind, no consciousness...no soul...if a person is inseperablem from his brain it is senseless to ask which of them controls the other." Obviously neither controls the other, they are one. Long live the death of mind/body dualism; if only our species could just make it over that one little hurdle. With Denton however, we have a monistic materialist at the helm; always an edifying prospect.He runs through the standard litany of neuroanatomy and neurophysiological diagrams and definitions, attending well to the important RAS, reticular activating system in the brain stem which coordinates the lower, unconscious neural functions with the upper, corticallly conscious neural systems. This trails off into case studies of hemispheric differentiation and REM dream function; studies on the adaptive function of why we dream.Denton covers his share of philosophy and animal correlates in this relaxing little book. The book ends merrily with interviews of naturalist Miriam Rothschild, Nobel Prize winning biologist Sir John Eccles, and Dr Donald Griffith. A fine, unpretentious essay on human and animal consciousness and its probable neural correlates, with some astounding interviews by some astounding people.
