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9780553014129: The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul

Synopsis

With contributions from Jorge Luis Borges, Richard Dawkins, John Searle, and Robert Nozick, The Mind's I explores the meaning of self and consciousness through the perspectives of literature, artificial intelligence, psychology, and other disciplines. In selections that range from fiction to scientific speculations about thinking machines, artificial intelligence, and the nature of the brain, Hofstadter and Dennett present a variety of conflicting visions of the self and the soul as explored through the writings of some of the twentieth century's most renowned thinkers.

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Review

Ever wondered who you are? Who you really are? This collection of writings and reflections by some of today's most notable thinkers is designed to enliven this most central, and most baffling, question in the philosophy of mind. In some ways, the questions posed and bantered about in this book are at the heart of all philosophical reasoning. They are the ultimate questions about the self. The Mind's I contains an astonishing variety of approaches to answering the question, "Who am I?" Between the covers of this book one encounters the literary erudition of Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges alongside the analytic rigor of John Searle. There are sophisticated metaphorical pieces (such as "The Princess Ineffabelle" by Polish philosopher and writer Stanislaw Lem), intriguing dialogues (like Raymond Smullyan's "Is God a Taoist?"), and serious but engaging philosophical essays from a host of thinkers (see Thomas Nagel's "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?").

Editors Hofstadter and Dennett--leading lights in the study of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and the philosophy of mind--follow each selection with a short reflection designed to elaborate on their main themes. The Mind's I admirably broadens their fields to a more general audience. The book's essays are grouped into six categories, each successively raising the philosophical stakes by introducing new levels of complexity. Ultimately, one confronts some of the thorniest questions in modern philosophy here, such as the nature of free will, our place in the metaphysical world, and the possibility of genuine artificial intelligence. The book closes with a playful and perplexing piece by Robert Nozick, an adequate summation to The Mind's I. He writes, "Perhaps God has not decided yet whether he has created, in this world, a fictional world or a real one.... Which decision do you hope for?" --Eric de Place

From the Publisher

"Brilliant, shattering, mind-jolting, The Mind's I is a searching, probing nook--a cosmic journey of the mind--that goes deeply into the problem of self and self-consciousness as anything written in our time. From verbalizing chimpanzees to scientific speculations involving machines with souls, from the mesmerizing, maze-like fiction of Borges to the tantalizing, dreamlike fiction of Lem and Princess Ineffable, her circuits glowing read and gold, The Mind's I opens the mind to the Black Box of fantasy, to the windfalls of reflection, to new dimensions of exciting possibilities.

"Ever since David Hume declared in the 18th century that the Self is only a heap of perceptions, the poor Ego has been in a shaky conditions indeed...Mind and consciousness becomes dispensable items in our accounts of reality, ghosts in the bodily machine...Yet there are indications here and there that the tide may be tuming...and the appearance of The Mind's I, edited by Douglas R. Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett, seems a welcome sign of change."--William Barrett, The New York Times Book Review

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Published by Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1982
ISBN 10: 0553014129 ISBN 13: 9780553014129
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Hofstadter, Douglas R.
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Hofstadter, Douglas R; Dennett, Daniel C (composers)
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Douglas Hofsteder
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Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul is a 1981 collection of essays and other texts about the nature of the mind and the self, edited with commentary by philosophers Douglas R. Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett. The texts range from early philosophical and fictional musings on a subject that could seemingly only be examined in the realm of thought, to works from the twentieth century where the nature of the self became a viable topic for scientific study. Trade edition. First printing as indicated by the complete number string 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page, therefore presumed first edition, first printing thus. This is a used book. Pages are clean and bright with no markings, notes, or highlighting. Covers show only minor shelf wear; front cover shows creases. No owner's marks or bookplates, not ex-library. Binding is tight and square. Corners not bumped. Note that oversized or heavier books may require additional postage. Seller Inventory # L1502

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Hofstadter, Douglas R. & Daniel C. Dennett eds.
Published by Bantam Books, Toronto, 1982
ISBN 10: 0553014129 ISBN 13: 9780553014129
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Trade Paperback. Condition: Good +. No Jacket. (1982), 501pp, illus., slight shelfwear to cover, light corner crease to front cover, light crease to rear cover, affects a few pgs, pgs beginning to yellow, contents clean. Seller Inventory # 16-0373

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