Ways of Seeing

Cognitive neuroscience is a young field that has been successful in furthering our understanding of the human brain. Long before the emergence of this field, many of the same questions being posed within the field were asked by philosophers. So how much of this earlier work informs current theories of cognition? In many cases - too little. Yet how can we ignore thousands of years of philosophical thinking on the human mind? There are some questions about the human brain that are surely impossible to answer without considering what it "feels" like to see, what it "feels" like to think. "Ways of Seeing" is a collaboration between a philosopher and a neuroscientist. It focuses on one of the most basic human functions - vision. Its emphasis is on the dual systems theory hypothesis: the theory that two separate visual systems operate within the brain - one connected to consciousness, one independent of consciousness. It brings together electrophysiological studies, neuropsychology, psychophysics, cognitive psychology and philosophy of mind.