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Arthur Koestler

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The Ghost in the Machine Paperback – June 5, 1990

by Arthur Koestler (Author)

4.6 43 ratings

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An examination of the human impulse towards self-destruction suggests that in the course of human evolution, a pathological split between emotion and reason developed

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Books
Publication date

June 5, 1990
Dimensions

5 x 1 x 7.75 inches
ISBN-10

0140191925
ISBN-13

978-0140191929
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; First Thus edition (June 5, 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140191925
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140191929
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1 x 7.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,867,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #51,422 in Philosophy (Books)
- #177,982 in Self-Help (Books)
- #781,388 in Literature & Fiction (Books)

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4.6 43 ratings

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Arthur Koestler

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Born in Budapest in 1905, educated in Vienna, Arthur Koestler immersed himself in the major ideological and social conflicts of his time. A communist during the 1930s, and visitor for a time in the Soviet Union, he became disillusioned with the Party and left it in 1938. Later that year in Spain, he was captured by the Fascist forces under Franco, and sentenced to death. Released through the last-minute intervention of the British government, he went to France where, the following year, he again was arrested for his political views. Released in 1940, he went to England, where he made his home. His novels, reportage, autobiographical works, and political and cultural writings established him as an important commentator on the dilemmas of the 20th century. He died in 1983.

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4.6 out of 5

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Thomas J. Loisel

Good Used Book!

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2019

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Book arrived in the condition seller claimed it to be, maybe even slightly better. Kudos!

One person found this helpful

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T. Carrere

A great read

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2010

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Excellent books from Koestler, The Sleepwalkers, Act of Creation and Ghost in the Machine. A great read for everyone.

6 people found this helpful

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The Mental Illness of Man

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2015

Koestler's classic book begins by suggesting that natural systems such as biological organisms have a double aspect - they function both as a wholistic system unto themselves and as part of a larger system that forms a function for the larger system. He called this double aspect of natural systems "Holons." Holons, Koestler suggested, form natural hierarchies with each Holon seeking to both integrate itself with the greater hierarchy while differentiating itself from the hierarchy. Some of his examples from biology are fascinating and Koestler's thoughts seem to pre-empt much of the more recent scientific theorising using fractals and chaos theory. In later chapters of the book Koestler suggests that the human brain can be divided into a triple hierarchy consisting of a basic "reptilian" brain;" an emotion-centred "mammalian" brain and the evolutionary most recent neo-cortex. Koestler suggests that our more primitive emotional "mammalian" brain or Holon has evolved to become too "self assertive" and improperly integrated with the neo-cortex. The leads Koestler to the startling conclusion that human-kind is fundamentally mentally ill or perhaps even neurologically impaired. He backs up his argument by siting the many example's of humanities self-destructive nature. Sadly, the most disappointing aspect of this book is Koestler's rather simplistic attempt at offering a suggestion on how to "cure" humanity of it's mental illness. He suggests that modern medicine might create of pill that will fix self destructive mental impairment. In 1970 this may or may not have sounded like a good solution but sadly, in 2015, where psycho-pharmacology creates as much controversy as it does money, Koestler's solution sounds far too simplistic. It's still a classic though.

13 people found this helpful

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Garrett

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2014

Perfect

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2017

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Love the book but my book came without the cover sheet and smelled a little musty.

2 people found this helpful

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MR

find it and read it

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2013

I'm not much of a reviewer, I'll just keep this brief. I came here looking to buy this book for a friend, and now I see it is a rare collectors item. This is one of the most insightful books I've read, and when I read it, in my mid twenties, it had a powerful effect on me. I can't understand why it would be out of print for so long. Get it from the library if you don't want to spend 300 dollars.

3 people found this helpful

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M. DiSpirito

Stick to It - Great Read

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2005

There is no doubt that Mr. Koestler explains his thoughts in immense detail and labor... This will affect you in a couple of possible ways:

- You'll love following the train of thought and appreciate even the train wrecks; or

- You'll start drifting off into visions of dancing monkeys and magical fireworks...

In all seriousness Mr. Koestler explains the reasoning and imagination behind all of his assertions and assumptions with exacting detail...

His theory is excellent and combines some mainstream stuff (from his time and relevant now) with some of the fringe ideas of various fields. The whole package is woven together with expert touch and Mr. Koestler has a rare gift of explaining things not in an "idiot-proof" fashion but down-to-earth enough to let you think about it.

The basic premise is the exploration of mankind's "darker" side -mentally speaking. The pathological human mind that 'builds splendid cathedrals and decorates them with gargoyles'; Mr. Koestler explains them as "two sides of the same medal coined in the evolutionary mint" - and indeed he makes that case with astounding persuasiveness... His concepts sound extremely plausible and seem to be well-founded on facts and ideas alike...

Stick to the heavier or rambling parts as he ties them into the overall idea eventually! You will walk away from this book having learned something...

15 people found this helpful

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meilsa@aol.com

breathtaking

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 1997

it is a solution to the problems of social anthropology giving a pattern that describes and (!) explains social networks. The problem of Koestler is very similar to the problem of cannabis: Cannabis is kept down by the oil-industrie, Koestler by the establishment of scientists and politics. For several reasons: First he argues against the human being a machine (Skinner) and then he looks for ways out of schizophysiology, for drugs balancing the older emotional brain with the new analytical thinking neocortex. Goleman should have read him. In the years after Ghost in The Machine he looked for drugs together with T. Leary and became leading person in the PSI-society, more reasons to keep his ideas down. Nevertheless, holism is a great theory that can be applied even in the communitarism debate and is so lively written, that other scientists had to be annoyed!

8 people found this helpful

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Ian T

All good!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2022

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Book as advertised, worn but still in decent condition. Especially liked the hand-written dedication inside the front cover from 1967. Would use the seller again.

G. M. Davey

Great price and great service

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2018

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Arrived quickly. As described. Great price and great service.

mic

up to everyone to take what they find useful.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2015

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particularly interesting and inspiring. up to everyone to take what they find useful.

One person found this helpful

peter

Gr8 book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2019

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Interesting

J. S. Burnett

Holons

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2012

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"The Ghost in the Machine" is about Wholeness as a concept, but in that respect acknowledges the nature of a part in the structure of the whole as having a recognisable identity; thus a holon can be described as, "An entity that has a boundary within its environment, from which it derives its identity" - like a blood cell, or a close knit tribal group within a larger society. Koestler develops this theme but does not really come to a wider view than that which I have just described. However, if one were adventurous enough to take this idea forward from Koestler's 'denigrated view', the concept has a potentially wide role to play in 'informatics'.

3 people found this helpful

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The Ghost in the Machine Paperback – June 5, 1990

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Arthur Koestler

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