Reading list?

It's some very tough, involving reading, but David Chalmer's anthology Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings is a great place to start and a good survey relevant readings from different schools of thought.

For Dualism I would suggest Chalmers The Conscious Mind

For Functionalism Dennet Consciousness Explained

For Mysterianism McGinn The Mysterious Flame

For Neuroscience Koch The Quest for Consciousness

For a bunch of different views in one easy to read book Blackmores Conversations on Consciousness

And for Quantum Theories (which I tend to stay away from) I guess Hammeroff idk...

Great! Thank you both.

Susan Blackmore does some succint, if slightly tedious, introductions to consciousness including:
Consciousness: A Very Short Introduction
Conversations on Consciousness

Since you are interested in altered states, I recommend Maslow's short book, Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences. Its easy to understand and can be read in a couple of hours, but talks about the intrinsic value of altered states of consciousness.

Thank you! I'm excited to start reading.

The one of the best book's to read if your interested in consciousness, in my view would be John R. Searle's The Mystery of Consciousness. Its concise and well written and would reccomend it.

My illness manic depression has resulted in some really really way out altered states of consciousness.

I went beyond thinking I might be God to knowing I was God

Of course sadly when I came back to myself, I realised I was just little old Alan

"Altered states of consciousness; a book of readings". Charles T. Tart, editor. From the viewpoint of transpersonal psychology

Aldus Huxley's classics Heaven and Hell and The Doors of Perception are worth the read.

This isn't quite the topic your looking for, but I'd reccomend a book caled Mind and Philosophers, by John Lachs. Its bascially a critique (favorable) of various brands of epiphenomenalism. I just came across it in the university library and couldn't put it down, especially the chapters on the 'impotence hypothesis,' the assertion that no conscious events are casual of anything. Noetzsche makes a similiar claim in The Will to Power, in the 'criticism of science' book. If you rationally extrapolate that assumption to other problems, most of the apparent paradoxes of mind/body dissapear.

I would remove this post if I could, it is off topic, sorry guys!! I will not repeat this type of mistake again

Peace Alan

hey don't worry about it. Don't feel bad about it.

I've found my way back to this place. Thank you all for your suggestions; they are greatly appreciated!