{"product_id":"metazoa-animal-life-and-the-birth-of-the-mind","title":"Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Enthralling . . . breathtaking . . . \u003ci\u003eMetazoa \u003c\/i\u003ebrings an extraordinary and astute look at our own mind's essential link to the animal world.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003e(Editors' Choice)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A great book . . . [Godfrey-Smith is] brilliant at describing just what he sees, the patterns of behaviour of the animals he observes.\" --Nigel Warburton, \u003ci\u003eFive Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe scuba-diving philosopher who wrote \u003ci\u003eOther Minds \u003c\/i\u003eexplores the origins of animal consciousness \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDip below the ocean's surface and you are soon confronted by forms of life that could not seem more foreign to our own: sea sponges, soft corals, and serpulid worms, whose rooted bodies, intricate geometry, and flower-like appendages are more reminiscent of plant life or even architecture than anything recognizably animal. Yet these creatures are our cousins. As fellow members of the animal kingdom--the Metazoa--they can teach us much about the evolutionary origins of not only our bodies, but also our minds. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn his acclaimed 2016 book, \u003ci\u003eOther Minds\u003c\/i\u003e, the philosopher and scuba diver Peter Godfrey-Smith explored the mind of the octopus--the closest thing to an intelligent alien on Earth. In \u003ci\u003eMetazoa\u003c\/i\u003e, Godfrey-Smith expands his inquiry to animals at large, investigating the evolution of subjective experience with the assistance of far-flung species. As he delves into what it feels like to perceive and interact with the world as other life-forms do, Godfrey-Smith shows that the appearance of the animal body well over half a billion years ago was a profound innovation that set life upon a new path. In accessible, riveting prose, he charts the ways that subsequent evolutionary developments--eyes that track, for example, and bodies that move through and manipulate the environment--shaped the subjective lives of animals. Following the evolutionary paths of a glass sponge, soft coral, banded shrimp, octopus, and fish, then moving onto land and the world of insects, birds, and primates like ourselves, \u003ci\u003eMetazoa\u003c\/i\u003e gathers their stories together in a way that bridges the gap between mind and matter, addressing one of the most vexing philosophical problems: that of consciousness. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCombining vivid animal encounters with philosophical reflections and the latest news from biology, \u003ci\u003eMetazoa\u003c\/i\u003e reveals that even in our high-tech, AI-driven times, there is no understanding our minds without understanding nerves, muscles, and active bodies. The story that results is as rich and vibrant as life itself.\r","brand":"Peter Godfrey-Smith","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44442566164716,"sku":"9781250800268","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9781250800268.jpg?v=1719041593","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/metazoa-animal-life-and-the-birth-of-the-mind","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}