โDavid Shields
If only more philosophy books were as original, interesting and readable as this one.ย A beautifully clear and thought-provoking exposition in the form of a Platonic dialogue.
โIain McGilchrist
Plenty of food-for-thought without the existential angst and ennui.
โCounterpunch
Over a period of many years, the celebrated English novelist Tim Parks and the Italian philosopher Riccardo Manzotti have been discussing the nature of consciousness. Not long ago, Parks suggested to his friend that they condense their exchanges โinto a series of focused dialogues to set out the standard positions on consciousness, and suggest some alternatives.โ Fifteen of the resultant conversations were edited by Parks and published inย The New York Review of Booksย onlineโone of its most popular features ever.
Now collected into one slim but thought-provoking volume, the dialogues reveal the profound scholarship of the two men. Their talks touch upon Aristotle and William James, the Higgs boson and Descartes, and include topics such as โWhere Are Words?โ, โThe Body and Usโ, โThe Reality of Dreamsโ, โThe Object of Consciousnessโ, and finally โConsciousness: What Is It?โ. For those of us searching for insight into some of lifeโs most basic puzzlesโhow do we think? how do we perceive one another, and ourselves?โDialogues on Consciousnessย will take its place alongside other classics of philosophy.
Tim Parks, novelist, essayist and translator, is the author of nineteen works of fiction, includingย Europa, shortlisted for the Booker. He is a regular contributor to both theย New York Review of Booksย and theย London Review of Books. He lives in Italy, where he teaches literature and translation studies at IULM in Milan.
Riccardo Manzotti isย Professor of Philosophy at IULM University (Milan). He holds a PhD in robotics, and is the author of more than fifty scientific papers and several books. A former Fulbright Visiting Scholar at MIT, he is now visiting professor at UAEU University (Emirates).