Mind Time: The Temporal Factor in Consciousness (Perspectives in Cognitive Neuroscience)

Libet's book is greatly to be welcomed because it provides the first full and detailed account of his famous experiments, explaining how and why he carried them out, and how he came to his conclusions...What is new is Libet's 'conscious mental field theory, ' which is startlingly different from any other current theory of consciousness. -- Susan Blackmore "Times Higher Education Supplement" (10/01/2004) Libet only dared switch to the study of consciousness after he got tenure. It is fortunate for us that he did, and that he has presented us here with what amounts to a retrospective exhibition of his work...The refreshing result is that we are immediately engaged in an earnest one-to-one tutorial with [him]...In [his] work, philosophers have found grist for what they do best. Indeed, his experiments...must rank as one of the major contributions of experimental psychology to modern philosophy of mind...[W]hether or not one agrees with his thesis or not, one must acknowledge that his pioneering experimental work has certainly been stimulating.--Kevan Martin"Nature" (05/20/2004) What makes Benjamin Libet different from all the others writing on [consciousness]...is that he has actually spent the past 40 years experimenting on the topic. His findings have played a central role in others' speculations. Now he has put his life's work into a single short book.--Steven Rose"New Scientist" (05/22/2004) [Libet's] book is greatly to be welcomed because it provides the first full and detailed account of his famous experiments, explaining how and why he carried them out, and how he came to his conclusions...What is new is Libet's 'conscious mental field theory, ' which is startlingly different from any other current theory of consciousness.--Susan Blackmore"Times Higher Education Supplement" (10/01/2004)