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Work #756 · Late

Descartes' Error

António Damásio
1994 · English
Popular-scientific philosophical-neurological treatise · Late-twentieth-century neuroscience / philosophy of mind

Damasio's 1994 founding work of affective neuroscience — the somatic marker hypothesis

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Descartes' Error (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method —
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

⧖

Time

Descartes' Error

The temporal flow of feeling and decision.

✦

Space

Descartes' Error

The neural-bodily space of feeling.

◉

Matter

Descartes' Error

The brain-body as substrate of feeling and reason.

◎

Observer

Descartes' Error

The embodied feeling and reasoning self.

⚡

Energy

Descartes' Error

Somatic-affective energies guiding reason.

⧉

Information

Descartes' Error

Somatic markers as embodied information.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Descartes' Error

Damasio's Descartes' Error: foundational for affective neuroscience and the contemporary critique of Cartesian dualism in cognitive science.