The Science of Subjectivity

"Neuro" has become a familiar prefix. Neurophilosophy, neuroethics, neuroeconomics, neuroaesthetics, neurocriticism, neurophenomenology and the neurodiversity movement are expressions of a prevailing neurobiological image of mind and person. But the deeper philosophical payoff of the new-fangled neuroscience remains unclear. What does it contribute, exactly, to our understanding of human experience? In particular, can it help us understand how anything like a first-person perspective could arise in the world? The Science of Subjectivity delves into the nature of subjective experience and argues that the new biology demands conceptual changes in our understanding. The first-person perspective runs deeper than conscious awareness, so the widely held assumption that subjectivity is inherently conscious must be rejected. Unconscious subjectivity is a basic fact of mental life. Neisser identifies the biological roots of the first-person, showing how ancient systems of animal navigation enable creatures like us to cope with our worldly concerns.

Joseph Neisser is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Adjunct Professor on the Neuroscience Program at Grinnell College, USA. In 2013 he was a Visiting Researcher at the Centre for Subjectivity Research (CFS) at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Introduction: Consciousness, Subjectivity, And The History Of The Organism
PART I: SUBJECTIVITY CONSIDERED AS THE FIRST-PERSON PERSPECTIVE
1. Subjectivity And Reference
2. Unconscious Subjectivity
3. What Subjectivity Is Not
PART II: SUBJECTIVITY IN THE NEUROBIOLOGICAL IMAGE
Introduction: Subjectivity In The Neurobiological Image
4. The Science Of Subjectivity
5. Putting The Neuro In Neurophenomenology
6. Neural Correlates Of Consciousness Reconsidered
Postscript: Neurophilosophy, Darwinian Naturalism, And Subjectivity