Somatic computationalism: Damasio's clever error
April 25, 2007 Christopher Pope 2 citations
In his 1994 book DESCARTES' ERROR, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio argues that emotion is necessary for rational thought, contrary to popular misconceptions linking reason to Cartesian mind-body dualism. He proposes a theory of mind where consciousness, reason, instinct, and emotion arise from the brain's neurological representations of the body and its environment; thought is the manipulation and interaction of these representations. The thesis examines Damasio's theory in relation to consciousness and intelligence, concluding that while it fails to explain how the brain generates consciousness, it usefully describes the neurological mechanics underlying consciousness and is better suited to complement Embodied Cognition than traditional GOFAI paradigms.