Ramon Lim 
SELF AND THE PHENOMENON OF LIFE [PDF ebook] 
A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity

The book describes a common ground between the biology of life and the humanity of life without compromising either discipline. It attempts to bridge the gap between our ’two cultures’ — the sciences and the humanities, as advocated by C P Snow fifty years ago. This book connects our meager existence to the entire living world and the universe, physically and spiritually, through the simple perspective of ’self, ’ being defined as a system that seeks its own perpetuation.

• Introduction: Why Self?


• An Astronaut’s Dilemma


• Self and the Beginning of Life


• The Microbial Self


• The Plant Self


• The Animal Self: Molecular Recognition


• The Animal Self: Neurobehavioral Correlates


• Self and Conscious Experience


• Self and Emotion


• Self and Memory


• Self and Free Will


• The Expanded Self: Society as Self


• Self from Within: The Introspective Self


• Self, Realities, and the Transcendents


• Epilogue: And the Quest Goes On