title: States of Consciousness
author: Charles Tart
description: "A beautiful piece of work on the theory of altered states of consciousness." -- <i>Stanislav Grof, M.D. author of Realms of the Human Unconsciousness</i>
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  INTRODUCTION
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  CHARLES  T.
  
  
  TART
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Whenever 1 speak on the topic of dreams, I mention a very unusual sort of
  dream, the "lucid" dream (see Chapter 8) in which the dreamer knows he is
  dreaming and feels fully conscious in the dream itself. After discussing some
  of the philosophical and semantic difficulties in defining states of
  consciousness, I always ask whether anyone has the slightest doubt that he is
  awake, that is, in a "normal" state of consciousness at that moment; I have
  never found anyone who had difficulty in making this distinction.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In introducing a book of readings on altered states of consciousness, I find
  myself in a similar position: there is a multitude of philosophical and
  semantic problems in defining just what "normal" consciousness and "altered"
  states of consciousness are, yet at this 