Consciousness from Matter

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	• I Am a Strange Loop Douglas R. Hofstadter Basic Books, 2007 - 436 pages average customer review:based on 69 reviews view larger image
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Consciousness from Matter

How consciousness develops in matter is the subject of this book. Hofstadter describes the process clearly using a variety of examples and analogies quite effectively. I'd also say convincingly, except that I believe that matter is grounded in consciousness and Hoftadter doesn't.

But apart from this bare bones description of the subject, the author describes movingly and with almost painful honesty how these ideas developed in his consciousness. The death of his wife, an prospective graduate student who didn't accept her acceptance into the program, the importance of a Chopin etude are all important parts of the process.

But this is one book, not two. It is a scientific-like explanation of a philosophic system. Scientific-like because a scientist uses scientific terminology to describe his reasoning and he demonstrates the process of the development of consciousness through his experience of his own developing consciousness. Philosophic system because, to me at least, it doesn't seem capable of experimentation and replication.

Despite my disagreement with Hofstadter's the limited view of the subject, I still would strongly recommend this work to anyone at all interested in the Science or Philosophy of Consciousness. It feels to me like a landmark work in a larger process.

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