Consciousness

(Tuis.) #1

Chapter


Seven


Attention


Malinowski, P. (2013). Neural mechanisms of
attentional control in mindfulness meditation. Frontiers
in Neuroscience, 7 , article 8.


The neuroscience of how meditation affects attention.


Manuello, J., Vercelli, U., Nani, A., Costa, T.,
and Cauda, F. (2016). Mindfulness meditation and
consciousness: An integrative neuroscientific perspec-
tive. Consciousness and Cognition, 40 , 67–78.


The present and future of the (neuro)scientific study of
consciousness and meditation.


Shear, J., and Jevning, R. (1999). Pure con-
sciousness: Scientific exploration of meditation tech-
niques. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6 (2–3),
189–210. Response: Nixon, G. (1999). A ‘hermeneutic
objection’: Language and the inner view. JCS, 6 (2–3),
257–269 (also includes response to response: Shear,
J. (1999). Reply to Nixon on meditation). Reprinted in
Varela and Shear (1999), pp. 189–209, 257–269.


A debate on what, if anything, meditation can offer to
the study of consciousness.


Stazicker, J. (2011). Attention, visual conscious-
ness and indeterminacy. Mind & Language, 26 (2),
156–184.


Philosophical criticism of confusions about attention
and visual consciousness (including Block’s P/A distinc-
tion), arguing that visual indeterminacy helps us think
about the role of attention.


Watzl, S. (2011). The nature of attention. Philosophi-
cal Compass, 6 (11), 842–853.


Categorises theories of attention, from intuitive concep-
tions to scientific accounts. (A companion piece, ‘The
philosophical significance of attention’ (Philosophical
Compass, 10 , 722–733, expands on the relation
between attention and consciousness.)

Free download pdf