A review by harlanh
Feeling & Knowing: Making Minds Conscious by Antonio Damasio

2.0

I've read many of Damasio's earlier books, back when I was a cognitive scientist, and was expecting to enjoy and learn from this quite a lot, but I ended up rather disappointed. Not by the theory -- Damasio's feelings-based explanation for consciousness is fascinating and seems likely to be on the right track -- but by this book itself. It's an under-edited collection of, essentially, footnotes. Anecdotes and attempts to explain his theory in different ways, without a lot of structure. It'd be nearly impossible to follow if you hadn't read, say, The Feeling of What Happens. Perhaps worth reading for a Damasio scholar or completist, but maybe not necessary otherwise...