Though modesty prevents him from claiming an original theory or dramatic new synthesis, in Mind in Life, one of the world's top philosophers offers a brilliant and inspired treatise into the so-called "explanatory gap" between life and mind, nature and consciousness. Thompson stands apart in his ability to link objective descriptions of life and mind with our subjective experience of them. Here he weaves the phenomenological analysis of experience and the latest developments in the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience and biology into a rich coordinated whole in which life and mind are seen to be intrinsically and essentially dynamic and self-organizing. Curious people who want to appreciate this hard won insight and better understand the deep continuity of life and mind will want to read this unique and illuminating book.
Michael Wheeler
The overarching topic of Thompson's book is nothing less than the nature of life and mind, where life and mind are conceived not as they often are--that is, as fundamentally separate subjects in need of largely nonintersecting theoretical frameworks--but rather as tightly intertwined phenomena in need of a common explanatory language. The long-anticipated follow-up to The Embodied Mind, this book is even better--clear, lively, original, and compelling. Mind in Life is a work for which a great number of thinkers in philosophy of mind and the cognitive sciences have been eagerly waiting.
— Michael Wheeler, author of Reconstructing the Cognitive World: The Next Step
Walter J. Freeman
There is no deeper prison of the modern mind than the Cartesian legacy that splits mind from life, and no more arduous climb to escape. Thompson provides a topo map--rich, multifaceted, superbly documented--by detailing the work of the many (but relatively few among contemporary scientists and philosophers) who recognize the impasse and strive to transcend it.
— Walter J. Freeman, author of How Brains Make Up Their Minds
Merlin Donald
Evan Thompson has emerged as a major presence in the science of the mind. His new book is quite wonderful to read, and I found it impossible to put down.
In particular, his discussion of Husserl's phenomenology is a revelation, as are his reasons for reversing his former criticisms of Husserl. His discussion of one of the central issues driving modern cognitive neuroscience, the binding problem, is particularly valuable and should compel a major reexamination of experiments being carried out in this field. Evan Thompson is doing important work in re-framing the very questions that define cognitive science.
— Merlin Donald, Case Western Reserve University
J.A. Scott Kelso
Though modesty prevents him from claiming an original theory or dramatic new synthesis, in Mind in Life, one of the world's top philosophers offers a brilliant and inspired treatise into the so-called "explanatory gap" between life and mind, nature and consciousness. Thompson stands apart in his ability to link objective descriptions of life and mind with our subjective experience of them. Here he weaves the phenomenological analysis of experience and the latest developments in the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience and biology into a rich coordinated whole in which life and mind are seen to be intrinsically and essentially dynamic and self-organizing. Curious people who want to appreciate this hard won insight and better understand the deep continuity of life and mind will want to read this unique and illuminating book.
— J.A. Scott Kelso, author of Dynamic Patterns: the Self-Organization of Brain and Behavior and (with David A. Engstrom) co-author of The Complementary Nature
Andy Clark
Is Mind continuous with Life? Can better phenomenology improve our scientific understanding of consciousness and cognition? In this elegant and thought-provoking treatment, Evan Thompson explores a vision of mind and life that traces a path from simple cellular organizations all the way to consciousness, intersubjectivity, and culture. A wonderful and important journey, and a compulsory trip for all those interested in the explanation of mind and experience.
— Andy Clark, author of Being There: Putting Brain, Body and World Together Again
Owen Flanagan
Neurophenomenology is the majestic method we naturalists have been seeking to blend experience, behavior, and the brain. This long-awaited book will open up the discussion of what experience is and where it is, and how we explain the connection between the objective world of physical activity and that of pain, love, and imagining. Thompson enacts the method he espouses, neurophenomenology, in each chapter with in-depth examples that mind scientists will find compelling. A tour de force!
