‘The hard problem of consciousness’: A lecture by Professor Mark Solms at the Freud Museum London

‘The hard problem of consciousness’

In this lecture, as part of our Freud's 4 pm Sessions series at the Freud Museum, Mark Solms addresses the ‘hard problem’ of consciousness, taking the view that we have made so little progress with this problem because we have been focusing on the wrong sort of consciousness (perception and cognition) and the wrong part of the brain (the cortex). Professor Solms argues that the problem becomes less hard when considered in relation to affect and the brainstem. He also discusses the relevance of two Freudian ideas to the solution of the problem.

The event was introduced by Dr Giuseppe Albano, Director of the Freud Museum London.

Mark Solms is a psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist. He is Professor in Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), Honorary Lecturer in Neurosurgery at the St Bartholomew’s and Royal London School of Medicine, Director of the Arnold Pfeffer Center for Neuropsychoanalysis at the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and Chair of the Research Committee of the International Psychoanalytical Association. He is President of the South African Psychoanalytical Association, Associate Member of the British Psychoanalytical Society, Honorary Member of the New York Psychoanalytic Society, and Member of the South African Clinical Neuropsychology Association and of the British Neuropsychological Society. He is a Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, and Honorary Fellow of the American College of Psychoanalysts and of the American College of Psychiatrists. He has won many prestigious awards, including the Sigourney Award. He has authored a multitude of chapters, articles and books including The Neuropsychology of Dreams (1997), and was founding editor of the journal Neuropsychoanalysis.

Complement your visit to the Freud Museum London with one of our free tours or talks led by staff, volunteers and special guest speakers.

www.freud.org.uk