In Onflow,
independent scholar Ralph Pred (1939-2012) supplies an
account of the nature of consciousness that grapples with
"the raw unverbalized stream of experience." Unlike other
recent philosophical accounts of consciousness, Pred's
analysis deals with the elusive and commonly neglected
continuities in the stream of consciousness. Pred offers a
general characterization and analysis of experience as well
as a highly detailed interpretation of experience from
within. Determined to make "conceptual contact" with the
immediacy of actual experience, Pred carries forward the
radical empiricism pioneered by William James (who coined
the term "stream of consciousness") and draws on the process
philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead.
To help readers apprehend the formation of
conscious thoughts, the intertwining of perception and
action, and the working of consciousness in onflowing
experience, Pred applies methods of analysis developed in
John Searle's theory of intentionality to James's views,
thereby showing how intentional states are embedded in the
stream of consciousness. Then, calling on Whitehead's
treatment of lived moments as acts of experience, Pred
provides an account of consciousness that at once deals with
conscious thoughts as they emerge from and function in
embodied, socialized experience and illustrates how language
distorts our understanding of experience and subjectivity.
Finally, he details striking parallels between this account
and Gerald Edelman's biological theory of consciousness,
and, in contrasting the two, argues for a revitalized
version of the experiential monism originally formulated by
James.
"Ralph Pred has written a brilliant book. He synthesizes the
work of James and Whitehead with contemporary work in
philosophy and neurobiology to produce a powerful and
original account of conscious experience."
- John Searle, Mills Professor of the
Philosophy of Mind and Language, University of California,
Berkeley
"Onflow brings a refreshing perspective to the age-old
problem of our experience of causation. Pred has
critically reviewed current and historical accounts of
issues such as intention and intentionality, and has
brought his own Whiteheadian approach to what Aristotle
discussed under the headings of final and formal
causation. Onflow is a much-needed compendium in these
days when cognitive scientists, neuroscientists, and
philosophers of science of a materialist stripe are apt to
deny that anything other than efficient causation can pass
as science. A most worthwhile reference to have beside
one's desk."
- Karl Pribram, Georgetown University
"Onflow opens up a new vista in
the philosophy of mind. Drawing on the thought of James
and Whitehead, Pred provides a processual analysis of
consciousness and intentionality that is scientifically
plausible, philosophically compelling, and
phenomenologically rich enough to grasp experience from
within. His is a view of lived experience that does
justice to the complexity of mental phenomena and one that
presents a persuasive, engaged alternative to contemporary
positions in the philosophy of mind and action."
- Anatole Anton, Department of Philosophy,
San Francisco State University
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SYNTAX & SOLIDARITY