Acts of Consciousness

Only later in this book does one discover the significance of the painting by Cezanne when the author explains his notion of Cubist psychology, entailing different viewpoints and multiple ways of looking at the nature of persons, mind and the world. The structure of the book is based around the three verbs to be, to have and to know. Saunders draws on his background in the arts, his interest in consciousness studies, his work in social psychology and, perhaps, most interestingly, his research into the psychology of captivity in relation to our normal experience of life. Along with many other thinkers, he defines the term person in a relational fashion entailing the presence of others. In captivity, these others may have to be virtual and one of his subjects, Vladimir Bukovsky, coins the term polyphony to describe the presences he conjures up in order to survive the state of isolation. In making its case, the book uses three thought experiments: teleporting from Derek Parfit, Nagel's what it's like to be a bat, and Mary the colour scientist. He also brings in many other supporting examples, including the film Martin Guerre where a man returning from war after 10 years assumes the identity of a previous inhabitant.

Saunders discusses three approaches to the person in terms of the ego, bundle theory and a social perspective, each of which encompasses a viewpoint, but with an emphasis on the social and issues concerning the nature of the continuity of identity. From the social standpoint, death only has consequences for those left behind, as there is no you. The author cannot imagine what survival would be like in the absence of our familiar background. It is quite right, though, that we become persons in the sense he means. His conclusions are reflections on freedom and captivity where captivity 'amplifies the familiar features of life and living by turning down the volume on everyday events' and making us realise how much we depend on the presence of other people. An act of consciousness as in the title implies commitment and responsibility. In this sense we are acting freely, contrary to the orthodoxy prevailing in much of neuroscience. At the end of the book, he characterises Cubist psychology more precisely as enabling us to work with contradictions, ambiguities and paradoxes and the realisation that no single view can be comprehensive. The book is very clearly set out and argued, providing a novel perspective on the nature of subjective experience.