Browse by:

Tradition is a Temple

This documentary has been a long time coming. Great that it’s finally seen the light of day. Here is a previous post that has links to the trailers. Hearing a horn being played in the distance of any street in New Orleans is probably one of the most life-affirming experiences I can imagine. It communicates…

Mirror neurons, embodied simulation and a second-person approach to mind reading

Here is a handy summary of Vittorio Gallese’s highly influential work. Mirror neurons (MNs) and embodied simulation (ES) Intersubjectivity can be profitably understood if framedwithin a phylogenetic perspective. The discovery of MNs enabled establishing a relation between human intersubjectivity, the inter-individual relations of other animal species and their underpinning neural mechanisms. MNs are motor neurons first…

Dr. Sym Goes to Heaven

Another Shannon Selin story this time from Commuter Lit, based on a historical incident in 1807 Montreal. As two of the comments rightly say: I love all the historical details woven in without making it sound like a history text book. A vivid glimpse into a particular time and place. Very interesting story. I had no…

Mind and Behavior: Vol. 34 No. 2

The latest issue of JMB is now available. Two articles have caught my attention: “Deep Naturalism: Patterns in Art and Mind” by Liz Stillwaggon Swan and “Problematizing Tye’s Intentionalism: The Content of Bodily Sensations, Emotions, and Moods” by Juan J. Colomina ArtCognitionCognitive neuroscienceCognitive scienceconsciousnessEmbodied cognitive scienceintentionalityjournal of mind and behaviorJuan ColominaLiz Stillwaggon Swanmichael tyenaturalismphilosophical psychologyPhilosophy of mindqualia

“Easy” vs “Hard” Problems of Consciousness

Michael Graziano in Aeon Magazine I believe that the easy and the hard problems have gotten switched around. The sheer scale and complexity of the brain’s vast computations makes the easy problem monumentally hard to figure out. How the brain attributes the property of awareness to itself is, by contrast, much easier. If nothing else,…

Sir Duke

The Economist reviews Terry Teachout’s latest Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington. Teachout’s blog is one of the most refined and insightful arts blogs around and he wrote a terrific bio of Pops. A man of gargantuan appetites for food and women as well as music, he believed that doing exactly what he wanted when he wanted…

Camus and Sartre

Marking the Camus centenary. Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, two of the most important minds of the 20th century, were closely entwined throughout their careers. On the centenary of Camus’ birth, SPIEGEL looks back at their famous friendship and the ideological feud that ultimately unraveled it. Albert CamusexistentialismideologyJean-Paul SartreMarxismNobel Prize in Literaturephilosophical literaturePhilosophySimone de BeauvoirSPIEGELStranger