States of Mind - Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness - An Anthology

States of Mind - Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness - An Anthology / ISBN 9781781256558 / 256-page paperback, 5 x 7.5 inches, published by Wellcome Collection (UK)

***

A lively collection of literature, science and art delving into the mysteries of human consciousness, with a new introduction by Mark Haddon

"The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends and where the other begins?" Edgar Allan Poe

Understanding the nature of consciousness continues to challenge even our leading scientists and psychologists. Yet we all experience some form of consciousness and make daily journeys between different conscious states as we sleep and wake. Through the eyes of writers, artists, scientists and philoso­phers, States of Mind explores the meaning of consciousness and, in particular, the nature of interrupted or liminal conscious experiences, such as somnambulism, synaesthesia and disorders of memory.

These diverse - even conflicting - perspectives pose fundamental questions about what it means to be alive, aware and human.

This engaging collection draws on five centuries of thinking, probing science and the soul, language and memory, being and not being. It includes works by Jane Austen, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Arthur Conan Doyle, Francis Crick, René Descartes, Emily Dickinson, H L Gold, Franz Kafka, H P Lovecraft, Marcel Proust, Mary Shelley, Henry David Thoreau, Alan Turing, H G Wells and Emile Zola.