A review by thechaliceofaries
Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith

4.0

We often think of philosophy and science as two very distinct fields that never intersect. To me, while the distinction is obviously necessary for all kinds of pragmatic reasons, science and philosophy are just two sides of the same coin; they are our attempts to make sense of ourselves and the world we live in. Although this book is primarily an examination of the evolution of complex nervous systems and what we think of as intelligent life, Peter Godfrey-Smith is also an academic philosopher, and makes a point to raise fascinating questions about what we truly mean by "consciousness" and a subjective experience. Of course, attempts to define such whimsical notions as consciousness have always been convoluted and given to interpretation. It's not reasonable to expect that these are questions with simple answers - however, I think Godfrey-Smith does a good job drawing from the works of various philosophers and biologists in his exploration of the origins of consciousness. There is an abundance of cool information about cephalopods and octopuses in particular that I think would be interesting to anyone who isn't familiar with these wonderfully sophisticated creatures.