Peter Godfrey-Smith
Author of Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
About the Author
Peter Godfrey-Smith is Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University.
Image credit: Peter Godfrey-Smith reads from his book "Other Minds" at Adelaide Writers Week 2018
Works by Peter Godfrey-Smith
Metazoa 2 copies
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1965
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Australia
- Birthplace
- Sydney, Australia
- Places of residence
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
San Diego, California, USA - Education
- University of California, San Diego (PhD, Philosophy, 1991)
- Occupations
- Professor of Philosophy
philosopher of science
scuba diver - Organizations
- University of Sydney
City University of New York
Stanford University - Awards and honors
- Lakatos Award (2010)
- Agent
- Sarah Chalfant
Members
Reviews
I enjoyed this book, which was something of a survey of the evolution of the “mind” Not just the human mind, but what constitutes sentience, minimum cognition or a subjective experience.
I was pleased whenever the author was relating either experiments that seemed to demonstrate aspects of these states of consciousness in various creatures or relating anecdotes about personal experiences he felt demonstrated some aspect of what he was writing about. I e joyed less the discussions of materialism, monism, etc. Of course, complaining there’s too much philosophy in the philosophy ook is a bit churlish. Overall, a great and thought provoking read… (more)
I was pleased whenever the author was relating either experiments that seemed to demonstrate aspects of these states of consciousness in various creatures or relating anecdotes about personal experiences he felt demonstrated some aspect of what he was writing about. I e joyed less the discussions of materialism, monism, etc. Of course, complaining there’s too much philosophy in the philosophy ook is a bit churlish. Overall, a great and thought provoking read… (more)
a very interesting read. I was glad to find that it was more science than philosophy. The author basically explores the rise of nervous systems and brains and how this connects eventually to the state of "consciousness" He explores what that might mean and how different species interact with the world around them.He mentions several of the studies that have been done with Octopuses and more recently cuttlefish and also explores the idea of why an animal with such a short and basically non-social life should wind up being one of the smarter kids on the block… (more)
This is one of the best science books I have read, with the right balance between narrative and science scope.
The story is basically one of the evolution of intelligence or consciousness even, as seen through the lenses of distant relatives of ours with enormous but diffuse brains, the octopus.
A poignant ecological question ends the book, which we hope is not in vain...
The story is basically one of the evolution of intelligence or consciousness even, as seen through the lenses of distant relatives of ours with enormous but diffuse brains, the octopus.
A poignant ecological question ends the book, which we hope is not in vain...
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 15
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 2,688
- Popularity
- #9,557
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 78
- ISBNs
- 61
- Languages
- 11
- Favorited
- 1
It's a non-fiction book that examines the consciousness, or otherwise, of octopus, squids, and cuttlefish. Full of interesting facts about the lives of octopus, it also delves into what is meant by "consciousness" more broadly.
The author is a philosopher, with a passion for sealife. He manages to deliver serious content without be didactic or boring.