The Architecture of Knowledge
The Architecture of Knowledge is a 2004 book by philosopher of science Subhash Kak that provides an overarching survey of the fields of quantum mechanics, neuroscience, computers, and consciousness. The book is one of the twenty planned monographs in the multi-volume series on the Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture under the general editorship of Professor D. P. Chattopadhyaya.
The book provides philosophical connections to contemporary science that reach back not only to the Greek but also to the Indian tradition. Apart from the general introduction, the chapters in the book are:
- Ancient and modern cosmologies
- Mind and brain
- The quantum basis of reality
- Mind, physics, and information processing
- Codes and organization
- The immune self
- Constructing reality
- Consciousness science in ancient India
- Evolution and origins
- Conclusions
The book seeks to find a consistent framework for knowledge in logic, purpose, and awareness, and sees science as representation and transformation of machines, of reality, and of life. Reality is seen in different layers, and
- with the dual aspects of purposive and reflexive behaviour in each layer, we see parallels in the structures in quantum theory, neuroscience, and computers. The overarching unity is provided by human consciousness. As conscious subjects, we examine the universe through the agency of our minds. In our strivings to describe the outer world using formal knowledge, shadows of the architecture of the inner world are also unveiled. (page 299)
The consideration of consciousness as a primary category connects this books to the Indian philosophical tradition and also sets it apart from the machine approaches to mind that are popular in Western theory.
Bibliographic information[edit]
The book was published by the Centre for Studies in Civilizations. The ISBN of the book is 81-87586-12-5