Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain - Softcover

Damasio, Antonio R.

3.95

9,211 ratings by Goodreads

9780333656563: Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0333656563 ISBN 13: 9780333656563

Publisher: Papermac, 1996

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Descartes' Error offers the scientific basis for ending the division between mind and body. Antonio Damasio contends that rational decisions are not the product of logic alone - they require the support of emotion and feeling. Drawing on his experience with neurological patients affected with brain damage, Dr Damasio shows how absence of emotions and feelings can break down rationality. He also offers a new perspective on what emotions and feelings actually are: a direct view of our own body states; a link between the body and its survival-oriented regulation on the one hand, and consciousness on the other. Written as a conversation between the author and an imaginary listener, Descartes' Error leads us to conclude that human organisms are endowed from their very beginning with a spirited passion for making choices, which the social mind can then use to build rational behaviour.

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Review:

"A thought-provoking account" (New Scientist)

"Rich in provocative concepts about intelligence, memory, creativity and passion" (Los Angeles Times)

"idiosyncratic and engaging" (The Times)

"Damasio is a profound thinker and an elegant writer...Descartes' Error is a fascinating exploration of the biology of reason and its inseparable dependence on emotion" (Oliver Sacks)

"Crucial reading" (New York Times Book Review)

From the Publisher:

Crucial reading - New York Times Book Review

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