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Daniel C. Dennett

Douglas R. Hofstadter

The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul Paperback – May 1, 1985

by Douglas Hofstadter (Author), Daniel C. Dennett (Author)

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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.

Print length

512 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Bantam
Publication date

May 1, 1985
Dimensions

5.99 x 1.03 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0553345842
ISBN-13

978-0553345841
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"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

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.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam (May 1, 1985)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0553345842
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0553345841
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.99 x 1.03 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,130,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,545 in Consciousness & Thought Philosophy
- #6,900 in Medical Cognitive Psychology
- #9,554 in Cognitive Psychology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
104 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		79%
4 star		10%
3 star		6%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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LuisCG

I would love this book other than the fact that much of ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2017

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Really well done and really well written. I would love this book other than the fact that much of it is dated. That's not the author's fault, of course. But so much development has been made in the last 30 years in the cognitive sciences that you'd like to have newer material. Great book in its time though.

6 people found this helpful

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Mark A. Weiss

Delightful Entertainment with Plenty of Variety

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2005

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The book is an anthology of material excerpted from elsewhere -- each essay followed by "reflections" by Dennet and/or Hofstadter. There is plenty of variety, so I guarantee you will find some essays utterly delightful and entertaining -- wether or not you fancy yourself as one who would normally pursue philsophy of mind or epistemology. The "Princess Ineffabelle" is delightful in its poetry -- even for me, a lover of highly analytical discourse. "Is God a Taoist?" is a wonderful example of the socratic dialog -- but entertaining and insightful both as well (and also, as the "reflections" claim, even pious). "The Epistemological Nightmare" is just so many things -- including outright funny. Insights abound here too though -- especially in the "reflections". You think you are "the final aribiter" of what it is like to be you. You know what tastes good to you, etc. The editors show how this is not so unquestionably true. The very fact that we allow "evidence" to support our critiques means that, e.g. taste-testing failures of yours would have to discredit you. If you dis-allow that possibility from the start, you didn't have a test or evidence in the first place. I gave a bit of detail on "The Epistemological Nightmare", I know -- but this gives you a taste for how you will be simultaneously entertained (even to outright laughing), given insights, and prompted to think in ways you never would have thought of. There's plenty of variety to pick from in the book. Go anywhere, any time.

13 people found this helpful

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Michael

This book will keep you up at night.

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2013

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I read The Mind's I over approximately a three week period. For the majority of that time, my wandering thoughts were captivated by musings and thought experiments about cognition and the mind. Whether you're already deeply interested in cognitive philosophy, or if you just want to have something interesting to think/talk about, you should read this book.

That being said, If you're looking for a deeply technical discussion or a book on neurology, then this is not the book for you. Here you will find very little concrete fact. However the lack of technical detail and care does not take away from the intended goal of this book (just like basically all of Hofstadter's other works).

6 people found this helpful

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A. R. Masters

Still interesting 30 years later

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2013

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Collection of fiction, non-fiction & commentary aimed at freeing your mind from preconceptions about what a mind is. Includes Turing's classic 1950 paper proposing the "Turing Test" for whether a machine can think. If you think the human soul can't be an emergent property of the human brain, read this and open yourself to a new version of wonder & mystery.

Turing says that by 2000, computers would have Gigabyte memory, & thinking machines could become possible. Current estimates say maybe a petabyte is more realistic. The authors note that eventually, long after 1981, computers might beat the best human chess players. Nobody considers the possibility of a world wide web of interconnected computers, or Siri conversing with you from an iPhone 5.

3 people found this helpful

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Lydia

The Mind's I opener

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2006

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This book by D&D is a wonderful, elegant, and fun way to introduce philosophical ideas about the mind. Especially in regards to people that have no familiarity, and even no interest! Because of the strong Hofstadter feel to this book (I don't think Dennett put much into this) anyone can pick it up and begin opening their "Mind's I" to the exhilaratingly beautiful philosophy of mind. So, if you for some reason you aren't interested in philosophy (IMPOSSIBLE!), but still enjoy thought-provoking fiction, Lewis Carroll type wit, and self-reflection, you'll still be able to appreciate this book.

I particularly enjoyed `A Conversation with Einstein's Brain' which was written by Hofstadter. In it, the reader is presented more implicit concepts about the mind than they will be able to recognize, with or without prior familiarity with the topics. It's truly a classic piece of art. Moreover, if you're not going to read the whole thing, or don't like a few essays in a row, don't put it down too quickly! If you hate it that much, skip to the second to last essay (mentioned above) and pry open your minds eye.

2 people found this helpful

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Frank J. Perricone

Fantastic collection

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2003

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If you've ever asked questions about mind, intelligence, identity, and the unity of the organism, you need to read this book. It's a collection of nice little stories and articles that are individually quite digestible. But each one is a great inspiration for questions and ideas and thoughts. And cumulatively, they present a synergistic panoply of alternative views and issues that synthesize into a truly enriching mind-altering experience.
Perhaps the best testament to this book's appeal is that I keep having to buy new copies because each time I let someone borrow it I never get it back. Or perhaps it's that I keep buying new copies anyway!

13 people found this helpful

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BRANDI

Thought/Mindfullness-provoking work of genius!

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2011

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"The MInd's Eye" is a thought provoking book that examines the ideas of "self" and "I" via many disparate authors/essays. Dennett is featured prominently, as are Dawkins and others from the worlds of philosophy/science/literature/criticism/psychology. It is a wide reaching book, and academic enough, while remaining easily accesssable to anyone w/ a sincere interest in exploring one's self. It's an entertaining, clever piece of prose and science. I highly recommend it to those who've enjoyed "Explaining Conscioussness", and "Breaking the Spell".

One person found this helpful

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James

A great read!

Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2010

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A great read! It is an edited work and so contains many short stories/essays with consciousness as the subject. You might not like all of the stories/essays, but you'll like most of them.

`What am I?', `Where am I?', and so forth are general topics.

I've had this book for years and will pick it up and re-read different parts for entertainment. I never fail to get something new out of it with every re-read.

Buy it, you'll like it!

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Phillip Carter

I recommend grabbing "I am a strange loop" also

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 26, 2016

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I recommend grabbing "I am a strange loop" also, they go very well together. I love this sort of thing, so I am biased towards a five star review...

John

Mind blowing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 13, 2011

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I first bought this book at least twenty years ago and it had a profound affect on how I thought about life, the universe and everything. I recommend it without reservation to anyone who wants to try looking at things another way (or another couple of ways or three)

2 people found this helpful

SJP

I read this when it was first issued and bought ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2016

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I read this when it was first issued and bought this one for a younger relative who seemed interested in what 'I' is. It was very well recived.

Bernie Hernandez

Required introduction to “self” and “consciousness.”

Reviewed in Australia on July 12, 2020

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Having read it originally more than twenty years ago but leaving it behind during my move to Australia, I am SO happy to have found it still available on print, although I would’ve loved to get it on kindle, instead.

I consider this book, if not triggered, certainly cemented my interest in the concepts of “self” and “consciousness” in a way that has enlightened my career ever since.

It is quite interesting and entertaining the way both co-editors select and discuss each of the selections, but not always agreeing on why nor their perspectives on the main topics. Reminds me a lot of Plato’s Dialogues, with the twist of all the parties in this book being real humans (or not?)

Definitely recommended, even if you don’t agree with other works of the editors.

Dylan Gimel

Great

Reviewed in Canada on January 5, 2015

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Excellent stories, both the fiction and non-fiction. Still open it up from time to time.

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