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Psychology » Consciousness

Most Recommended Books

Principles of Psychology by William James

“A wonderful summary of what was known and what questions were being asked at the dawn of psychology as a science in the 19th century.”

Lisa Feldman Barrett, Psychologist

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Consciousness Explained by Daniel C Dennett

“People go in two directions: they either love the way he writes, or they hate it. I love it, with all his mad examples and neologisms.”

Susan Blackmore, Psychologist

Read more

Browse book recommendations:

Psychology

  • Applied Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Consciousness
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Mental Health
  • Neuroscience
  • Perception
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Psychological Conditions

What does it mean to be conscious? And how can we solve the so-called ‘hard problem’: of how and why our physical brains produce subjective, internal experiences. As Isaac Newton once noted, “to determine by what modes or actions light produceth in our minds the phantasm of colour is not so easie.”

This is one of the most complex and conceptually difficult subjects in psychology, and one that has fascinated both scientists and philosophers of mind for centuries. Find below reading lists compiled by some of the best renowned researchers of the field, after we asked the experts for the best books in their respective specialisms.

    The best books on Philosophy of Mind, recommended by Keith Frankish

  • Read

    1

    A Materialist Theory of the Mind
    by D M Armstrong

  • Read

    2

    Consciousness Explained
    by Daniel C Dennett

  • Read

    3

    Varieties of Meaning: The 2002 Jean Nicod Lectures
    by Ruth Garrett Millikan

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    4

    The Architecture of the Mind
    by Peter Carruthers

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    5

    Supersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension
    by Andy Clark

The best books on Philosophy of Mind, recommended by Keith Frankish

The experimental investigation of the mind is now the province of psychology and neuroscience – but many conceptual and metaphysical questions remain. Philosophy of mind deals with these fundamental questions, says Keith Frankish, as he selects five of the best books in the field.

    The best books on Consciousness, recommended by Susan Blackmore

  • Read

    1

    Consciousness Explained
    by Daniel C Dennett

  • Read

    2

    Principles of Psychology
    by William James

  • Read

    3

    The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
    by Julian Jaynes

  • Read

    4

    The Mind's I: Fantasies And Reflections On Self & Soul
    by Douglas R Hofstadter & Daniel C Dennett

  • Read

    5

    Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life
    by Peter Godfrey-Smith

The best books on Consciousness, recommended by Susan Blackmore

The ‘hard problem’ of consciousness – of how the physical matter of the brain produces the psychological phenomenon of consciousness – has dogged psychologists and neuroscientists for decades. But what if we’ve been posing the question incorrectly all this time? The psychologist Susan Blackmore discusses five key texts that tackle this quicksilver concept.

    The best books on Streams of Consciousness, recommended by Charles Fernyhough

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    1

    Ulysses
    by James Joyce

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    2

    Describing Inner Experience
    by Russell T Hurlburt and Eric Schwitzgebel

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    3

    Mrs Dalloway
    by Virginia Woolf

  • Read

    4

    Principles of Psychology
    by William James

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    5

    Night
    by Edna O'Brien

The best books on Streams of Consciousness, recommended by Charles Fernyhough

Is it possible to describe or study our inner experience, and – if so – how might one go about it? Charles Fernyhough, professor of psychology and author of The Voices Within chooses five of the best books that employ or examine streams of consciousness.

    The best books on The Human Brain, recommended by Suzana Herculano-Houzel

  • Read

    1

    Connectome
    by Sebastian Seung

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    2

    The Feeling of What Happens
    by Antonio Damasio

  • Read

    3

    Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human
    by Richard Wrangham

  • Read

    4

    The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease
    by Daniel Lieberman

  • Read

    5

    The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution
    by Joseph Henrich

The best books on The Human Brain, recommended by Suzana Herculano-Houzel

The human brain contains 86 billion neurons and burns a quarter of our energy intake. But it is by no means extraordinary, says Suzana Herculano-Houzel. Here, the Brazilian neuroscientist chooses five of the best books for understanding the complexities and connectivity of our most enigmatic organ.

    The best books on Surrealism and the Brain, recommended by Bradley Voytek

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    1

    The Master and Margarita
    by Mikhail Bulgakov

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    2

    The City & the City
    by China Miéville

  • Read

    3

    World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
    by Max Brooks

  • Read

    4

    The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
    by Oliver Sacks

  • Read

    5

    Snow Crash
    by Neal Stephenson

The best books on Surrealism and the Brain, recommended by Bradley Voytek

Neurological disorders lead to far more surreal stories than those we find in science fiction, argues University of California neuroscientist Bradley Voytek.

    The best books on Memory, recommended by Joshua Foer

  • Read

    1

    The Art of Memory
    by Frances A Yates

  • Read

    2

    The Book of Memory
    by Mary Carruthers

  • Read

    3

    Memory in Oral Traditions
    by David C Rubin

  • Read

    4

    Metaphors of Memory
    by Douwe Draaisma

  • Read

    5

    The Mind of a Mnemonist
    by Aleksandr R Luria

The best books on Memory, recommended by Joshua Foer

The best-selling author and 2006 US Memory Champion, Joshua Foer, picks five unforgettable books about the art of remembering.

    The best books on Identity and the Mind, recommended by Sebastian Seung

  • Read

    1

    Mind and Body
    by Alexander Bain

  • Read

    2

    Driving Mr Albert
    by Michael Paterniti

  • Read

    3

    The Emotion Machine
    by Marvin Minsky

  • Read

    4

    Portraits of the Mind
    by Carl Schoonover

  • Read

    5

    The World, the Flesh, and the Devil
    by JD Bernal

The best books on Identity and the Mind, recommended by Sebastian Seung

Neuroscientist Sebastian Seung introduces us to the concept of the connectome, the ever-changing map of connections between the brain’s neurons that makes each of us who we are.

    Consciousness for Beginners: the best book, articles and one video, recommended by David Carmel

  • Read

    1

    Introducing Consciousness
    by David Papineau and Howard Selina

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    2

    Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State
    by Adam Owen et al

  • Read

    3

    Selective Attention Test
    by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons

  • Read

    4

    Failure to Detect Mismatches Between Intention and Outcome in a Simple Decision Task
    by Petter Johansson et al

  • Read

    5

    Synecdoche, New York
    by Charlie Kaufman

Consciousness for Beginners: the best book, articles and one video, recommended by David Carmel

What is consciousness? Can we measure it? Cognitive neuroscientist David Carmel introduces some of the philosophical and scientific complexities of identifying what was formerly known as the ‘soul.’

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We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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