Heidegger and the Problem of Consciousness [Hardcover]

Nancy J. Holland turns to the thought of Martin Heidegger to help understand an age-old philosophical question: Is there a split between the body and the mind? Arguing against philosophical positions that define human consciousness as an overarching phenomenon or reduce it to the brain or physicality, Holland contends that consciousness is relational and it is this relationship that allows us to inhabit and negotiate in the world. Holland forwards a complex and nuanced reading of Heidegger as she focuses on consciousness, being, and what might constitute the animal or, more broadly, other-than-human world. Holland engages with the depth and breadth of Heideggers work as she opens space for a discussion about the uniqueness of human consciousness.

Nancy J. Holland is Hanna Professor of Philosophy at Hamline University. She is author ofOntological Humility: Lord Voldemort and the Philosophers.

Introduction: Heidegger, Nature, and Consciousness

1. The Problem of Consciousness

2. The Earliest Vision

3. The Essence of Truth

4. The Later Heidegger

5. Something Non-Material. . .But Also Not Unmaterial

Conclusion: ???? [is] Not a Soul but the Unmediated Discovery of Being

Epilogue: Charlemagnes Monogram

Endnotes

References

1. This work is a novel reading of Heidegger against what consciousness means for being and the animal and other-than-human world.

2. Author is part of an early wave of feminist phenomenologists.

3. This book grapples with the question of our relationship to the natural world and our consciousness, or ability to perceive and experience the world. It does Heidegger studies in a new way.