Descartes' Error

Since Descartes famously proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am," science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a person’s true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes’ Error in 1995. Antonio Damasio—"...

Since Descartes famously proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am," science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a person’s true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes’ Error in 1995. Antonio Damasio—"one of the world’s leading neurologists" ( The New York Times )—challenged traditional ideas about the connection between emotions and rationality. In this wondrously engaging book, Damasio takes the reader on a journey of scientific discovery through a series of case studies, demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: emotions are not a luxury, they are essential to rational thinking and to normal social behavior.

美國南加州大學(xué)戴維·多恩西弗神經(jīng)科學(xué)與心理學(xué)教授、腦和創(chuàng)造力研究中心主任，同時(shí)擔(dān)任索爾克研究院及衣阿華大學(xué)兼職教授。作為當(dāng)今世界公認(rèn)的神經(jīng)科學(xué)研究領(lǐng)域的領(lǐng)袖，他還是美國國家科學(xué)院醫(yī)學(xué)研究院院士，美國藝術(shù)與科學(xué)院院士。他曾獲得多項(xiàng)榮譽(yù)（其中幾項(xiàng)與同為神經(jīng)科學(xué)家和神經(jīng)病學(xué)家的妻子漢娜·達(dá)馬西奧共同獲得），其著作《笛卡爾的錯(cuò)誤》、《感受發(fā)生的一切》（The feeling of what happens）、《尋找斯賓諾莎》（Looking for spinoza）備受贊譽(yù)，成為世界各國高校及研究機(jī)構(gòu)的必讀書目。