Book Reviews 793 Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness: Julian Jaynes's Bicameral Mind

the nature and origin of consciousness. The book under review is a Festschrift in Jayne's honor written by a group of his enthusiastic followers. Their general theme is that Jayne's theory has stood up well over the years (after some initial skepticism) and is now supported by more evidence to the extent of promoting some thawing of this initial negative response amongst the neuroscientific and philosophical communities. The theory consists of several interwoven parts. His main theme (similar to Dennett's and Wittgenstein's) is that consciousness is a social construct wholly dependent upon language. It involves seeing one's self as a subject in linear time with a past and a future. Consciousness consists essentially of "... thoughts, images, memories, interior dialogues, regrets, wishes, resolves all interweaving with the constantly changing pageant of external sensations of which I am selectively aware " (Jaynes, 1976, p. 23) and again as a "... self-scanning, inner life, self-consciousness " (Kuijsten, 2006, p. 269). This statement immediately attracts the objection (voiced by Ned Block