Since Descartes famously proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am," science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a person’s true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes’ Error in 1995. Antonio Damasio—"one of the world’s leading neurologists" (The New York Times)—challenged traditional ideas about the connection between emotions and rationality. In this wondrously engaging book, Damasio takes the reader on a journey of scientific discovery through a series of case studies, demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: emotions are not a luxury, they are essential to rational thinking and to normal social behavior.

In 'Descarte's Errror' Damasio holds emotions are required by the individual for appropriate navigation of the world. Damasio is slipping in under the radar the pressuppostion the world is dead matter which only possesses value when given an emotional spin but the world always has emotional valence. Emotion isn't laid on top of the world by the individual as a function of the projects of an indvididual but is an integral part of the world. To attempt to seperate out emotion from what is beheld when the world is beheld is to mischaracterize the world and the such furthers a hollow emotionality. The world becomes dead when one attributes the emotional valence of the world to the individual's projects as the individual is then speedily withdrawing emotional tone from the world. Heidegger has the the dead world as a function of a theoretical attitude but more properly the dead world is a function of 'getting right' about the feelings, feelings are an attempt to negate the emotional or better yet the mood laden world, which kills the beholding of the world from which all emotional valence stems. The only way to handle a negative emotional world is to better grasp the world, withdraw 'monastically' or alter that world and, of course, all three strategies are best pursued simultaneously. It is strange world that lacks emotional valence and it is strange because the world is diminished rather than there is this complete world which an individual is failing to navigate appropriately. 'Descarte's Error' is subpar pop psychology.

Damasio, a neurologist, uses brain trauma victims to understand the components of our decision-making process.

Starting with the tragic story of Phineas Gage, a construction worker whose brain was lanced leaving his obvious logical and linguistic abilities intact, Damasio illustrates that there is more to good judgement than the cold logic of the Descartesian archetype.

I found the book to be a technically challenging but worthwhile read.

When I read the book five years ago, I realized I only focused on my mind's inner dialogue and symbolic manipulations. I took action to develop awareness toward the emotional signals that effect my decisions, even taking a few acting classes. Now when I shift some attention to the emotional reactions my ideas generate I notice that it is quicker to reach a satisfying decision.

This book was a required read for my psychology class-and I really enjoyed it. At first I wasn't too sure what it was about, but upon completion I had learned a lot about how mind, and body, and brain are all connected and don't just function as a whole. Damasio has an approach to this fact that describes in detail every bit of information and gives thorough examples for each piece of information. It is a very informative book.

I recommend this book for any cognitive neuroscientist interested in emotion or decision making. Damasio goes through some neuroscience research history and some philosophical decision making research history to tell you about some classical views about decision making and consciousness. He then manages to flip that all around by citing some of his own convincing research on the subject, which proves that emotion is absolutely necessary in human decision making.

I thought it was a really interesting read, and I used it for a final paper for a Cognitive Neuroscience class.

This book served as my introduction to the world of cognitive neuroscience. Written in a hybrid story-explanation form unique to Damasio, this book shows how much is known about how our mind operates and how we know it. As indicated in the title, it also describes a more realistic view of mental processes than the old model, suggested by Descartes, that separated emotion and reason -a model that we must let go of if we want to comprehend ourselves.