The Self in Neuroscience and Psychiatry

Rating:
Summary: a major contribution and superb achievment!
Review: Traditionally, consciousness and self-consciousness have been studied by philosophers (from Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Husserl, and Sartre to Ryle, Armstrong, Dennett, and Chalmers). Nevertheless, the recent advance in the neurosciences and cognitive sciences has permitted a scientific progress in the understanding of self and self-consciousness, both in the normal and pathology. "The Self in Neuroscience and Psychatry," edited by Kircher and David, is a clear and outstanding example of such a progress. It is a well-balanced and well-written (although not addressed to the general reader) text which contains contributions and up-to-date papers from some of the leaders in the study of self-consciousness and its disorders (psychiatrists, neuroscientists, philosophers, psychologists, and cognitive scientists). The first of the three parts, contains introductory chapters describing the philosophical, psychiatric, and psychological background to the study of the self. The second part contains contributions from cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience in consciousnes and self-consciousness research. The last and biggest part contains chapters focusing on the psychological, psychiatric and neurobiological study of the pathology of self and self-consciousness, particularly in schizophrenia.

There are many texts which deal with the problem of consciousness and self-consciousness from various philosophical and psychological views, but very few which deal with the problem with clinical, empirical and experimental evidence; that is why I highly recommend "The Self in Neuroscience and Psychatry" as a major contribution, and superb achievement, to the scientific study of self and consciousness.