Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness: Julian Jaynes's Bicameral Mind Theory Revisited

Why are gods and idols ubiquitous throughout the ancient world? What is the relationship of consciousness and language? How is it that oracles came to influence entire nations such as Greece? If consciousness arose far back in human evolution, how can it so easily be altered in hypnosis and "possession"? Is modern schizophrenia a vestige of an earlier mentality? These are just some of the difficult questions addressed by Julian Jaynes's influential and controversial theory of the origin of subjective consciousness or the "modern mind." This book includes an in-depth biography of Julian Jaynes, essays by Jaynes, and the discussion and analysis of Jaynes's theory from a variety of perspectives such as clinical psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, anthropology, linguistics, and ancient history.

With chapters by Dr. Julian Jaynes, Dr. Michael Carr, Prof. Scott Greer, Dr. John Hamilton, Marcel Kuijsten, Prof. John Limber, Dr. Brian McVeigh, Prof. David Stove, June Tower, Prof. William Woodward, and a Foreword by Prof. Michael Persinger.