The Mind's I: Fantasies And Reflections On Self & Soul

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.

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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).

"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".

I read this book back when it came out and loved it. Wanted to re-read it, so I bought the ebook. Big mistake. Only made it a few pages in before I returned it for a refund. Missing letters in words, extra letters in words, formatting is terrible, etc. The publisher needs to take the ebook down and do quite a bit of editing before making it available again.

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!

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.

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!

If you like philosophy and artificial intelligence, this is the book for you..

Um livro incrível que nos instiga a explorar diferentes linhas de pensamento a respeito do conceito de "Eu". Se você gosta de Inteligência Artificial e filosofia da mente, sem sombra de dúvidas, essa é uma boa escolha. Acredito que o livro, apesar de ter sido lançado há um bom tempo, ainda é interessante ver a forma como os autores criam correntes a respeito dos temas abordados.

Amazing book with very interesting ideas about self and mind.

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.

One if my all time favourite books!! Entertaining and fun to read if you love philosophy.