Stephen Goldberg: Anatomy of the Soul: Mind, God, and the Afterlife (2009)

Is there a Soul that persists after death? Anatomy of the Soul: Mind, God, and the Afterlife presents a new approach to the subject, based on an in-depth analysis of how the mind arises from the brain. While the mind is integrally associated with the brain, Dr. Goldberg, a neuroscientist who has taught the subject of neuroanatomy for 25 years explains that there is an aspect of Mind that may continue despite the loss of the brain. The theory clarifies numerous issues within the field of consciousness study and provides insights into the nature of quantum physics, free will, God, and the question of immortality of the mind. 123 pgs; $14.95.      Free PDF download
ISBN# 9780940780859

"If the mind is a product of the brain, and if the brain is conscious and consciousness is information, and if information can be stored somewhere other than the brain, does that mean a conscious mind can survive the death of the brain? For a unique answer to this question, and a remarkably succinct summary of the vast research in neuroscience on consciousness, read Stephen Goldberg's Anatomy of the Soul, a book that both informs and provokes. Dazzling with facts, deep with implications."

Michael Shermer
Publisher of Skeptic magazine
Monthly columnist for Scientific American
Author of Why People Believe Weird Things

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
CHAPTER 1. The Definition of Consciousness and the Mind/Body Problem
CHAPTER 2. The Importance of the Mind/Body Problem
CHAPTER 3. The Origin of Consciousness -- Current Theories
CHAPTER 4. Toward a New Theory of Consciousness: The Jonah Mind
CHAPTER 5. Consciousness = Information = Meaning
CHAPTER 6. Formats, Carriers, and Triggers of Information
CHAPTER 7. Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Meaning in Consciousness
CHAPTER 8. Customary Consciousness in Part Requires Reportable Intrinsic Meaning
CHAPTER 9. How the Firing of Brain Circuits Can Have Intrinsic Meaning: Associational Relationships
CHAPTER 10. Consciousness and Ambiguity of Meaning
CHAPTER 11. Intrinsic Meaning, Reportability, and "Self Circuits"
CHAPTER 12. The Hierarchical Structure of Meaning
CHAPTER 13. The Intrinsic Origin of the Senses
CHAPTER 14. Explaining Classic Problems in the Field of Consciousness
-- The Binding Problem
-- The Chinese Room Issue
-- Split-Brain Experiments
-- Blindsight
-- The Phantom Limb Phenomenon
-- The Idiot Savant
-- Mary, the Colorblind Physiologist
-- Reversed Qualia
-- Novel Qualia
-- Consciousness of Self
-- Consciousness of Consciousness
-- Consciousness: Is it Useful?
-- Synesthesia
-- Can Zombies Exist?
-- Consciousness of Additional Spatial Dimensions
-- Consciousness of Higher Levels of Meaning
-- How Mind-Expansive Can Consciousness Be?
-- Seeing with Sound
--Can a Computer Be Conscious?
CHAPTER 15. The Universality of Consciousness
CHAPTER 16. Consciousness in Space and Time
CHAPTER 17. Mind and the Real World -- Made of the Same Stuff?
CHAPTER 18. Quantum Theory and Reality
CHAPTER 19. Free Will
CHAPTER 20. The Soul and Afterlife
-- Near death experiences
-- Past life regression
-- Immortality
CHAPTER 21. God
CHAPTER 22. The Future
CHAPTER 23. Summary
Appendix. The Great Afterlife Debate: Michael Shermer v. Deepak Chopra
Selected Readings

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