The Inner Eye: Social Intelligence in Evolution [Paperback]

Nicholas Humphrey (Author), Mel Calman (Illustrator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0192802445 | ISBN-13: 978-0192802446 | Publication Date: February 13, 2003

Where does consciousness come from? What is it? Where is it taking us?
In 1971 Nicholas Humphrey spent three months at Dian Fossey's gorilla research centre in Rwanda. It was there, among the mountain gorillas that he began to focus on the philosophical and scientific puzzle that has fascinated him ever since: the problem of how a human being or animal can know what it is like to be itself. The Inner Eye describes where these original speculations led: to Humphrey's now celebrated theories of the 'social function of intellect' and of human beings as natural born 'mind-readers'. Easy to read, adorned with Mel Calman's brilliant illustrations, passionately argued, yet never less than scientifically profound, this book remains the best introduction to new thinking about 'theory of mind' and its implication for human social life.

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Covers topics such as the development of consciousness in

About the Author

animals, and what causes humans to commit atrocities. School for Social Research, New York, and also Senior Research Fellow at the London School of Economics. His books include Consciousness Regained: Chapters in the Development of Mind (OUP, 1983), and A History of the Mind: Soul Searching (Chatto & Windus, 1995), and The Mind Made Flesh (OUP, 2001).

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192802445
• ISBN-13: 978-0192802446
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,486,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nicholas Humphrey is a theoretical psychologist, based in Cambridge, who is known for his work on the evolution of human intelligence and consciousness. His interests are wide ranging. He studied mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey in Rwanda, he was the first to demonstrate the existence of "blindsight" after brain damage in monkeys, he proposed the celebrated theory of the "social function of intellect, and he is the only scientist ever to edit the literary journal Granta.

His books include Consciousness Regained, The Inner Eye, A History of the Mind, Leaps of Faith, The Mind Made Flesh, Seeing Red, and Soul Dust. He has been the recipient of several honours, including the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize, and the British Psychological Society's book award.

He has been Lecturer in Psychology at Oxford, Assistant Director of the Subdepartment of Animal Behaviour at Cambridge, Senior Research Fellow in Parapsychology at Cambridge, Professor of Psychology at the New School for Social Research, New York, and School Professor at the London School of Economics.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Inner Eye: Social Intelligence in Evolution, August 24, 2011

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Diane S. Akacich (San Fran Bay Area) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Inner Eye: Social Intelligence in Evolution (Paperback)

Everyone should read this fast-paced, easy to read and understand book. It encapsulates modern man in a nutshell. Arrived in fab shape and quickly.