my mind on books

Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain by Antonio Damasio (Pantheon, 2010) is officially due out next Tues (Nov 9) but I saw it today at my local bookstore.
(link for amazon.co.uk)

Product description from the publisher:

One of the most important and original neuroscientists at work today tackles a question that has confounded neurologists, philosophers, cognitive scientists, and psychologists for centuries: how consciousness is created.

Antonio Damasio has spent the past thirty years studying and writing about how the brain operates, and his work has garnered acclaim for its singular melding of the scientific and the humanistic. In this revelatory work, he debunks the long-standing idea that consciousness is somehow separate from the body, presenting astounding new scientific evidence that consciousness—what we think of as “self”—is in fact a biological process created by the brain. Besides the three traditional perspectives used to study the mind (the personal, the behavioral, and the neurological), Damasio introduces the evolutionary perspective, which entails a radical change in the way the history of conscious minds is viewed and told.

Self Comes to Mind is a groundbreaking investigation of consciousness as a dynamic, unpredictable faculty that is instrumental in defining and explaining who we understand ourselves to be.

See also: Website for the book, including a series of video interviews and a preview of the book

The Character of Consciousness (Philosophy of Mind Series) by David Chalmers (Oxford University Press, USA, 2010) is now available.

(link for amazon.co.uk)

Product description from the publisher:

What is consciousness? How does the subjective character of consciousness fit into an objective world? How can there be a science of consciousness? In this sequel to his groundbreaking and controversial The Conscious Mind, David Chalmers develops a unified framework that addresses these questions and many others. Starting with a statement of the “hard problem” of consciousness, Chalmers builds a positive framework for the science of consciousness and a nonreductive vision of the metaphysics of consciousness. He replies to many critics of The Conscious Mind, and then develops a positive theory in new directions. The book includes original accounts of how we think and know about consciousness, of the unity of consciousness, and of how consciousness relates to the external world. Along the way, Chalmers develops many provocative ideas: the “consciousness meter”, the Garden of Eden as a model of perceptual experience, and The Matrix as a guide to the deepest philosophical problems about consciousness and the external world. This book will be required reading for anyone interested in the problems of mind, brain, consciousness, and reality.

See also: Author’s website

[Douglas Hofstadter’s new book, Surfaces and Essences, originally had an expected publication date of Sept. 27, 2010, but now shows March 2011.]

The World Is Made of Stories by Buddhist philosopher David Loy (Wisdom Publications, 2010).

(link for amazon.co.uk)

Product description from the publisher:

In this unique and utterly novel presentation, David Loy explores the fascinating proposition that the stories we tell — about what is and is not possible, about ourselves, about right and wrong, life and death, about the world and everything in it — become the very building blocks of our experience and of the universe itself. Loy uses an intriguing mixture of quotations from familiar and less-familiar sources and brief standalone micro-essays, engaging both the reader and himself in challenging and illuminating dialogue. As we come to see that the world is made — in a word — of stories, we come to a richer understanding of that most elusive of Buddhist ideas: shunyata, the “generative emptiness” that makes up all forms. Reminiscent of Zen koans and works of sophisticated poetry, this book rewards both casual reading and deep reflection.

Your Brain and You: What Neuroscience Means for Us by William S. Robinson (Goshawk Books, 2010)

Product description from the publisher:

A pair of facts often gives rise to puzzles and anxieties: You depend on your brain for your thoughts, actions, and sense of self, yet you do not control its operations — in everyday life, you don’t even know what it’s doing. In this book, philosopher William S. Robinson clarifies puzzles about our mental life, addresses anxieties about selfhood and moral responsibility, and explains a set of attitudes toward ourselves that fit with both common sense and what we have learned from neuroscience.

A revised and updated edition of Mapping the Mind by Rita Carter has been issued by the University of California Press. (by Phoenix in the UK)

Product description from the publisher:

Today a brain scan reveals our thoughts and moods as clearly as an X-ray reveals our bones. We can actually observe a person’s brain registering a joke or experiencing a painful memory. In Mapping the Mind, award-winning journalist Rita Carter draws on the latest imaging technology and science to chart how human behavior and personality reflect the biological mechanisms behind thought and emotion. This acclaimed book, a complete visual guide to the coconut-sized, wrinkled gray mass we carry around inside our heads, has now been completely revised and updated throughout. Among many other topics, Carter explores obsessions and addictions, the differences between men’s and women’s brains, and memory.
• Comprehensively updated for this edition with the latest research, case studies, and contributions from distinguished scientists
• Addresses recent controversies over behavior prediction and prevention
• Includes new information on mirror neurons, unconscious cognition, and abnormalities in attention spans

See also: Author’s website