Summary

From one of the world’s leading neuroscientists: a succinct, illuminating, wholly engaging investigation of how biology, neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence have given us the tools to unlock the mysteries of human consciousness

“One thrilling insight after another ... Damasio has succeeded brilliantly in narrowing the gap between body and mind.” —The New York Times Book Review

In recent decades, many philosophers and cognitive scientists have declared the problem of consciousness unsolvable, but Antonio Damasio is convinced that recent findings across multiple scientific disciplines have given us a way to understand consciousness and its significance for human life.

In the forty-eight brief chapters of Feeling & Knowing, and in writing that remains faithful to our intuitive sense of what feeling and experiencing are about, Damasio helps us understand why being conscious is not the same as sensing, why nervous systems are essential for the development of feelings, and why feeling opens the way to consciousness writ large. He combines the latest discoveries in various sciences with philosophy and discusses his original research, which has transformed our understanding of the brain and human behavior.

Here is an indispensable guide to understanding how we experience the world within and around us and find our place in the universe.

Author Biography

ANTONIO DAMASIO is the David Dornsife Chair in Neuroscience and professor of psychology, neurology and philosophy at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where he heads the Brain and Creativity Institute.

Before We Begin . . . 1

I. On Being . . . 11
In the Beginning Was Not the Word · The Purpose of Life · The Embarrassment of Viruses · Brains and Bodies · Nervous Systems as Afterthoughts of Nature · On Being, Feeling, and Knowing · A Calendar of Life

II. About Minds and the New Art of Representation . . . 33
Intelligence, Minds, and Consciousness · Sensing Is Not the Same as Being Conscious and Does Not Require a Mind · The Contents of Minds · Unminded Intelligence · The Making of Mental Imagery · Turning Neural Activity into Movement and Mind · Fabricating Minds · The Minds of Plants and the Wisdom of Prince Charles · Algorithms in the Kitchen

III. On Feelings . . . 69
The Beginnings of Feeling: Setting the Stage · Affect · Biological Efficiency and the Origin of Feelings · Grounding Feelings I · Grounding Feelings II · Grounding Feelings III · Grounding Feelings IV · Grounding Feelings V · Grounding Feelings VI · Grounding Feelings VII · Homeostatic Feelings in a Sociocultural Setting · But This Feeling Isn’t Purely Mental

IV. On Consciousness and Knowing . . . 111
Why Consciousness? Why Now? · Natural Consciousness · The Problem of Consciousness · What Is Consciousness For? · Mind and Consciousness Are Not Synonymous · Being Conscious Is Not the Same as Being Awake · Consciousness (De)Constructed · Extended Consciousness · With Ease, and You Beside · The Real Wonder of Feelings · The Priority of the World Within · A Gathering of Knowledge · Integration Is Not the Source of Consciousness · Consciousness and Attention · The Substrate Counts · Loss of Consciousness · The Cerebral Cortices and the Brain Stem in the Making of Consciousness · Feeling Machines and Conscious Machines

V. In All Fairness: An Epilogue . . . 185

Notes and References . . . 195
Other Readings . . . 215
Acknowledgments . . . 217
Index . . . 221

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