my mind on books

Robert Wright at bloggingheads.tv

website for the book

Narrative and Folk Psychology, ed. by Daniel Hutto (Imprint Academic, 2009) is a special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies (v.16, no. 6-8, June-August 2009) available in book form.

The journal website has full text of the editor’s introduction, plus abstracts of the articles.

Here is the abstract of the introduction:

Abstract: There has been a long-standing interest in the putative roles that various so-called ‘theory of mind’ abilities might play in enabling us to understand and enjoy narratives. Of late, as our understanding of the complexity and diversity of everyday psychological capacities has become more nuanced and variegated, new possibilities have been articulated: (i) that our capacity for a sophisticated, everyday understanding of actions in terms of reason (our folk psychology) may itself be best characterized as a kind of narrative practice and (ii) that acquiring the capacity for supplying and digesting reasons explanations might (at least normally) depend upon having a special training with narratives. This introductory paper to the volume situates the claims of those who support the narrative approach to folk psychology against the backdrop of some traditional and new thinking about intersubjectivity, social cognition and ‘theory of mind’ abilities. Special emphasis is laid on the different reasons for being interested in these claims about narrative practice and folk psychology in light of various empirical and philosophical agendas.

Editor Daniel D. Hutto is the author of Folk Psychological Narratives: The Sociocultural Basis of Understanding Reasons (Bradford Books) (MIT Press, 2008)

I’ve found browsing the “New Releases” section in books at Amazon.com to be the best way to keep up with the new books coming out in various mind-related categories. For example, Clicking through “Books > New Releases > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Consciousness & Thought” gets me a listing of 100 “bestselling new & future releases” to browse through.

Today though I found out that going a different route, such as Books > Browse Subjects > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Consciousness & Thought provides a few different options through the left-hand menu. There’s a way to see books that have been published in the last 30 days, only those “coming soon” or printed books only, excluding Kindle editions and audiobooks.

Some other relevant categories:

Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > Neuropsychology

Science > Behavioral Sciences

Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Anthropology

Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don’t Seem to Matter. . . But Really Do by Melinda Blau and Karen L. Fingerman (W.W. Norton & Co., 2009)

Product description from the publisher:

Our barista, our mechanic, our coworker—they populate our days, but we often take them for granted. Yet these are the people who bring novelty and information into our lives, allow us to exercise different parts of ourselves, and open us up to new opportunities. In their unprecedented examination of people on the periphery, psychologist Karen Fingerman, who coined the term “consequential strangers,” collaborates with journalist Melinda Blau to expand on and make her own groundbreaking research come alive. Drawing as well from Blau’s more than two hundred interviews with specialists in psychology, sociology, marketing, and communication, the book presents compelling stories of individuals and institutions, past and present. A rich portrait of our social landscape—on and off the Internet—it presents the science of casual connection and chronicles the surprising impact that consequential strangers have on business, creativity, the work environment, our physical and mental health, and the strength of our communities.

See also: Website for the book

Pleasures of the Brain (Series in Affective Science) ed. by Morten L. Kringelbach and Kent C. Berridge (Oxford University Press, 2009)

Product description from the publisher:

Pleasure is fundamental to well-being and the quality of life, but until recently, was barely explored by science. Current research on pleasure has brought about ground-breaking developments on several fronts, and new data on pleasure and the brain have begun to converge from many disparate fields. The time is ripe to present these important findings in a single volume, and so Morten Kringelbach and Kent Berridge have brought together the leading researchers to provides a comprehensive review of our current scientific understanding of pleasure. The authors present their latest neuroscientific research into pleasure, describing studies on the brain’s role in pleasure and reward in animals and humans, including brain mechanisms, neuroimaging data, and psychological analyses, as well as how their findings have been applied to clinical problems, such as depression and other disorders of hedonic well-being. To clarify the differences between their views, the researchers also provide short answers to a set of fundamental questions about pleasure and its relation to the brain. This book is intended to serve as both a starting point for readers new to the field, and as a reference for more experienced graduate students and scientists from fields such as neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, neurology, and neurosurgery.

See also: Morten Kringelbach’s website

Kent Berridge’s website at U of Michigan

Morten Kringelback’s previous book: The Pleasure Center: Trust Your Animal Instincts (Oxford University Press, 2008)

Product description from the publisher:

Many people believe that pleasure and desire are obstacles to reasonable and intelligent behavior. In The Pleasure Center, Morten Kringelbach reveals that what we desire, what pleases us–in fact, our most base, animalistic tendencies–are actually very important sources of information. They motivate us for a good reason. And understanding that reason, taking that reason into account, and harnessing and directing that reason, can make us much more rational and effective people. In exploring the many facets of pleasure, desire and emotion, Kringelbach takes us through the whole spectrum of human experience, such as how emotion fuels our interest in things, allowing us to pay attention and learn. He investigates the reward systems of the brain and sheds light on some of the most interesting new discoveries about pleasure and desire. Kringelbach concludes that if we understand and accept how pleasure and desire arise in the complex interaction between the brain’s activity and our own experiences, we can discover what helps us enjoy life, enabling us to make better decisions and, ultimately, lead happier lives.