The Unity of Consciousness

Tim Bayne examines the idea that a human being can have only a single stream of consciousness at any one point in time. He draws on philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, weaving together detailed conceptual analysis with close attention to empirical findings, in defence of the unity of consciousness. In the first part of the volume Bayne develops an account of what it means to say that consciousness is unified. In the second part of the volume this account is applied to a variety of syndromes--drawn from both normal and pathological forms of experience--in which the unity of consciousness is said to breakdown. Bayne argues that the unity of consciousness remains intact in each of these syndromes. In the final section he explores the implications of the unity of consciousness for theories of consciousness, for the sense of embodiment, and for accounts of the self. In one of the most comprehensive examinations of the topic available, The Unity of Consciousness draws on a wide range of findings within philosophy, clinical psychology, and cognitive neuroscience in constructing an account of the unity of consciousness that is both conceptually sophisticated and scientifically informed.

Tim Bayne is University Lecturer in Philosophy of Mind at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St. Catherine's College. His main interests lie in the philosophy of psychology, with a particular focus on consciousness.