Everybody who thinks or speaks possesses consciousness – but nobody is capable of defining exactly what consciousness is. The phenomenon ‘consciousness’, therefore, is a persistent enigma which is being continually addressed by various disciplines. This volume encompasses the functions of consciousness as analysed by a consortium of scholars from the life sciences and humanities. Empirical results taken from psychiatry and psychology,linguistic and philosophical act and speech analyses, as well as, historical perspectives are all placed in context with one another. renowned contributors provides an extensive and systematic introduction