Antonio Damasio – författare

'A truly awe-inspiring piece of writing' David Robson, author of The Intelligence TrapIn recent decades, many philosophers and cognitive scientists have declared the question of consciousness unsolvable, but Antonio Damasio is convinced that recent findings in neuroscience, psychology and artificial intelligence have given us the necessary tools to solve its mystery. In Feeling & Knowing, Damasio elucidates the myriad aspects of consciousness and presents his analysis and new insights in a way that is faithful to our own intuitive sense of the experience.In forty-eight brief chapters, Damasio helps us understand the relation between consciousness and the mind; why being conscious is not the same as either being awake or sensing; the central role of feeling; and why the brain is essential for the development of consciousness. He synthesises the recent findings of various sciences with the philosophy of consciousness, and, most significantly, presents his original research which has transformed our understanding of the brain and human behaviour.Here is an indispensable guide to understanding the fundamental human capacity for informing and transforming our experience of the world around us and our perception of our place in it.

'Damasio undertakes nothing less than a reconstruction of the natural history of the universe ... [A] brave and honest book' The New York Times Book ReviewThe Strange Order of Things is a pathbreaking investigation into homeostasis, the condition of that regulates human physiology within the range that makes possible not only survival but also the flourishing of life. Antonio Damasio makes clear that we descend biologically, psychologically and even socially from a long lineage that begins with single living cells; that our minds and cultures are linked by an invisible thread to the ways and means of ancient unicellular existence and other primitive life-forms; and that inherent in our very chemistry is a powerful force, a striving toward life maintenance that governs life in all its guises, including the development of genes that help regulate and transmit life.The Strange Order of Things is a landmark reflection that spans the biological and social sciences, offering a new way of understanding the origins of life, feeling and culture.

In the centuries since Descartes famously proclaimed, 'I think, therefore I am,' science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a person's true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended until recently to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes' Error. Antonio Damasio challenged traditional ideas about the connection between emotions and rationality. In this wonderfully engaging book, Damasio takes the reader on a journey of scientific discovery through a series of case studies, demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: emotions are not a luxury, they are essential to rational thinking and to normal social behaviour.

A groundbreaking exploration of what it means to feel alive.In this landmark work, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio reveals how consciousness arises from the body’s constant conversation with the mind. Drawing on decades of clinical research and vivid case studies, he argues that emotion is not the enemy of reason but its foundation - the mechanism through which we become aware of ourselves.The Feeling of What Happens unites neuroscience, philosophy and psychology to explain how the brain turns sensation into self. Written with clarity and lyricism, it remains one of the most influential books ever published on the science of mind, emotion and identity.‘Life-changing… crammed with tiny gems of information’ Guardian‘A tour de force… a monumental book’ Sunday Times

Joy, sorrow, jealousy and awe - these and other feelings are the stuff of our daily lives. Presumed to be too private for science to explain and not to be essential for comprehending human rationality and understanding, they have largely been ignored. But not by the great seventeenth-century Dutch philosopher Spinoza. And not by Antonio Damasio. In this book Dr. Damasio draws on his innovative research and on his experience with neurological patients to examine how feelings and the emotions that underlie them support the governance of human affairs.

‘Will give pleasure to anyone interested in original thinking about the brain…Breathtakingly original’ Financial Times The trailblazing investigation of a question that has confounded us for centuries: how is consciousness created? In Self Comes to Mind, world-renowned neuroscientist Antonio Damasio goes against the long-standing idea that consciousness is separate from the body, presenting compelling new scientific evidence that consciousness - what we think of as a mind with a self - is in fact a biological process created by a living organism. His view entails a radical change in the way the history of the conscious mind is viewed and told, suggesting that the brain’s development of a human self is a challenge to nature’s indifference.Groundbreaking ideas and beautifully written, this is essential reading for anyone curious about the foundations of mind and self.

A masterful synthesis of neuroscience, philosophy and evolutionary biology, this book transforms how we understand what it means to be conscious, alive and human.The age-old mystery of consciousness - our capacity to experience our own existence and have a sense of ourselves - remains unsolved despite the extensive efforts of neurobiologists and philosophers. What if the secret to consciousness lies not in abstract thought, but in the very feelings that pulse beneath our awareness?In this groundbreaking work, renowned neuroscientist Antonio Damasio overturns centuries of thinking about consciousness by demonstrating how it emerges not from the highest functions of the brain but from the humble functions of the nervous system. Damasio shares his cutting-edge research on human neurology and psychology, and explains how brain, mind and body come together to generate consciousness.He explores the profound implications for understanding human creativity, morality and culture - and confronts the existential questions raised by the extraordinary new capabilities of artificial intelligence, in an impassioned defence of human consciousness as a unique force which must be understood and valued if we are to progress as a society.

The age-old mystery of consciousness - our capacity to experience our own existence and have a sense of ourselves - remains unsolved despite the extensive efforts of neurobiologists and philosophers. What if the secret to consciousness lies not in abstract thought, but in the very feelings that pulse beneath our awareness?In this groundbreaking work, renowned neuroscientist Antonio Damasio overturns centuries of thinking about consciousness by demonstrating how it emerges not from the highest functions of the brain but from the humble functions of the nervous system. Damasio shares his cutting-edge research on human neurology and psychology, and explains how brain, mind and body come together to generate consciousness.He explores the profound implications for understanding human creativity, morality and culture - and confronts the existential questions raised by the extraordinary new capabilities of artificial intelligence, in an impassioned defence of human consciousness as a unique force which must be understood and valued if we are to progress as a society.

Man has been pondering for centuries over the basis of his own ethical and aesthetic values. Until recent times, such issues were primarily fed by the thinking of philosophers, moralists and theologists, or by the findings of historians or sociologists relating to universality or variations in these values within various populations. Science has avoided this field of investigation within the confines of philosophy. Beyond the temptation to stay away from the field of knowledge science may also have felt itself unconcerned by the study of human values for a simple heuristic reason, namely the lack of tools allowing objective study. For the same reason, researchers tended to avoid the study of feelings or consciousness until, over the past two decades, this became a focus of interest for many neuroscientists.It is apparent that many questions linked to research in the field of neuroscience are now arising. The hope is that this book will help to formulate them more clearly rather than skirting them. The authors do not wish to launch a new moral philosophy, but simply to gather objective knowledge for reflection.

Man has been pondering for centuries over the basis of his own ethical and aesthetic values. Until recent times, such issues were primarily fed by the thinking of philosophers, moralists and theologists, or by the findings of historians or sociologists relating to universality or variations in these values within various populations. Science has avoided this field of investigation within the confines of philosophy. Beyond the temptation to stay away from the field of knowledge science may also have felt itself unconcerned by the study of human values for a simple heuristic reason, namely the lack of tools allowing objective study. For the same reason, researchers tended to avoid the study of feelings or consciousness until, over the past two decades, this became a focus of interest for many neuroscientists.It is apparent that many questions linked to research in the field of neuroscience are now arising. The hope is that this book will help to formulate them more clearly rather than skirting them. The authors do not wish to launch a new moral philosophy, but simply to gather objective knowledge for reflection.