THE BOOK OFTHE MIND - Key Writings on the Mind from Plato and the Buddha through Shakespeare,Descartes,and Freud to the Latest Discoveries of Neuroscience

Sep 29, 2026

A curated anthology on the human mind bringing together foundational writings spanning Plato and the Buddha through major Western thinkers,including Shakespeare,Descartes,and Freud,then extending to recent neuroscience discoveries. Organized around core cognitive domains—perception,memory,emotion,thought,and consciousness—the work outlines key themes such as sensations and imagination,trustworthiness and localization of memory,emotional mechanisms across adulthood and childhood,and theoretical approaches to thinking and consciousness. Includes structural guidance via an introduction,diagrams of the brain,and editor’s material.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages420

Reading Time10 h 47 min

AccessFree to download

Editor's Preface

Introduction

Diagrams of the Brain

PERCEPTION

Sensations and Ideas

The Birth of the Imagination

The Work of the Imagination

The Sense of Continuity

The Role of Stored Images

Phantoms,Tricks,Visions and Hallucinations

The Apprehension of Beauty

MEMORY

The Value of Memory

The Trustworthiness of Memory

State-dependent Memory

The Location of Memory

Brain Damage and Memory

Memory and Madness

Learning

EMOTION

The Nature of Emotion

Love

Melancholy and Depression

Anger

Fear

Phobia

Hate

Disgust

Grief and Sorrow

The Emotions of Children

Brain Damage and Emotion

Rising above Emotion

THOUGHT

Conceptual Thought

Origins of Thought

The Physical Effects of Thought

Obsession

CONSCIOUSNESS

The Mind-Body Problem

The Soul

The Effect of the Body on the Mind

The Effect of the Mind on the Body

The Validity of Experience

The Identity Theory of Mind

Neural Darwinism

Consciousness Is a Dubious Gift

Materialism

The Mystery of Consciousness

# THE B00K OFTHE MIND KEY WRITINGS ON THE MINDFROM PLATO AND THE BUDDHATHROUGH SHAKESPEARE,DESCARTES,AND FREUD T0THE LATEST DISCOVERIES0F NEUROSCIENCE STEPHEN WILSON https://archive.org/details/bookofmindkeywri0000step THE B00K OF THE MIND OTHER BOOKS BY STEPHEN WILSON The Cradle of Violence:Essays on Psychiatry,Psychoanalysis and LiteratureSigmund Freud (a biography)Introducing the Freud Wars THE B00K OFTHE MIND Key Writings on the Mind from Plato and the Buddhathrough Shakespeare,Descartes,and Freud to the LatestDiscoveries of Neuroscience EDITED BYSTEPHEN WILSON Introductions,selection and arrangement copyright ◎2003 by Stephen Wilson For copyright purposes the acknowledgements pages constitute acontinuation of the copyright page. Every reasonable effort has been made to trace all copyright holders of illustrative andother copyright material reproduced in this book,but if any have been inadvertentlyoverlooked the publishers would be glad to hear from them. All rights reserved.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner what-soever without written permission from the Publisher except in the case of brief quota-tions embodied in critical articles or reviews.For information address Bloomsbury,175Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010. Published by Bloomsbury,New York and LondonDistributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for. ISBN I-58234-258-X First U.S.Edition 2003 I35791o 8642 Typeset by Palimpsest Book Production Limited,Polmont,Stirlingshire,ScotlandPrinted in Great Britain by Clays Ltd,St Ives plc In memory of Anthony Storr(I920-200I),who encouraged me to do this book. Perhaps there is nothing in Nature more pleasing than thestudy of the human mind... John Hunter (I728-1793) CONTENTS Editor's prefacexiIntroductionxiiiDiagrams of the Brainxvii I PERCEPTION Introduction I Sensations and Ideas 6 The Birth of the Imagination I5 The Work of the Imagination 25 The Sense of Continuity 32 The Role of Stored Images 34 Phantoms,Tricks,Visions and Hallucinations 36 The Apprehension of Beauty 52 2 MEMORY Introduction 60 The Value of Memory 65 The Trustworthiness of Memory 72 State-dependent Memory 79 The Location of Memory 8I Brain Damage and Memory 83 Memory and Madness 88 Learning 9I 3 EMOTION Introduction 95 The Nature of Emotion IOO II3 Love Melancholy and Depression II7 # THE BOOK OF THE MIND AngerI29FearI34PhobiaI38HateI39DisgustI46Grief and SorrowI5IThe Emotions of ChildrenI55Brain Damage and EmotionI63Rising above EmotionI67IntroductionI7IConceptual ThoughtI76Origins of ThoughtI82The Physical Effects of ThoughtI9IObsessionI94Good and Bad Thoughts 4THOUGHT I97The Thinking OrganI98Schizophrenia2OIDéjà Vu209Behaviourism2IIThe Experience of Thinking2.225 CONSCIOUSNESSIntroduction239The Mind-Body Problem244The Soul254The Effect of the Body on the Mind256The Effect of the Mind on the Body260The Validity of Experience264The Identity Theory of Mind268Neural Darwinism272Consciousness Is a Dubious Gift277Materialism28oThe Mystery of Consciousness288

FAQs

What time span of thinkers does the book cover?

It connects writings from Plato and the Buddha through Shakespeare,Descartes,and Freud,and then reaches the latest discoveries of neuroscience.

How is the book organized?

The contents are grouped into major sections: perception,memory,emotion,thought,and consciousness,with an editor’s introduction and diagrams of the brain.

Which topics are included under perception and memory?

Perception includes sensations and ideas,imagination,continuity,stored images,and hallucinations; memory includes value,trustworthiness,state-dependent memory,location,brain damage and learning.

Sep 29, 2026

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