Author(s): Nicholas Humphrey

Philosophy | Evolution | Psychology

The story of a fifty-year quest to uncover the evolutionary history of consciousness from one of the world's leading theoretical psychologists.

We feel, therefore we are. Conscious sensations ground our sense of self. They are crucial to our idea of ourselves as psychic beings: present, existent, and mattering. But is it only humans who feel this way? Do other animals? Will future machines? Weaving together intellectual adventure and cutting-edge science, Nicholas Humphrey describes his fifty-year quest for answers: from his discovery of blindsight in monkeys and his pioneering work on social intelligence to breakthroughs in the philosophy of mind.
 
The goal is to solve the hard problem: to explain the wondrous, eerie fact of "phenomenal consciousness"--the redness of a poppy, the sweetness of honey, the pain of a bee sting. What does this magical dimension of experience amount to? What is it for? And why has it evolved? Humphrey presents here in full a new, plausible solution that phenomenal consciousness, far from being primitive, is a relatively late and sophisticated evolutionary development. The implications for the existence of sentience in nonhuman animals are startling and provocative.

Sentience is full of provocative ideas, as well as lively anecdotes from decades of pondering these issues. Humphreys thesis offers a great deal to think about. * Philip Ball, New Scientist *
4* Review: "bold, brilliant, honest" * Charles Foster, Fortean Times *
Humphrey's arguments are both plausible and lucid, the product of exhaustive research and decades spent weighing the possibilities...a stimulating exercise in experiment and speculation. * , Kirkus Reviews *
an intriguing journey...that stimulates questioning * Jonathan Cowie, Concatenation *
A compelling treatise on the evolution of consciousness from one our finest psychologists. Humphrey combines a fascinating, often surprising, and occasionally hilarious scientific autobiography with a raft of well justified ideas about what it takes for an organism to be sentient. His excellent book will challenge you to think about nature's deepest and most personal mystery in a new and thoroughly enlightening way. * Anil Seth, author of Being You *
It takes a special kind of person to write illuminatingly about consciousness - a person who is not only steeped in cognitive science, biology, and philosophy, but also has a fertile imagination, an openness to new ideas, and a sensitivity to the richness and variety of experience in humans and other animals. Nicholas Humphrey is such a person, and in his new book he cements his claim to be one of the most insightful writers on this notoriously difficult topic. Sentience is a beautifully written book, full of engaging vignettes, original ideas, and intriguing suggestions. It will fascinate general readers and inspire academic researchers. * Keith Frankish, author of Mind and Supermind *
Nobody has thought more deeply, originally or poetically about animal sentience and the notion of consciousness. In this bold and persuasive book he lays out how he came to his conclusions in a lifetime of studying animals and human minds. * Matt Ridley *
Nick Humphrey has been a hugely influential figure across the fields of experimental psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy for half a century, and, for my money, is the most inventive psychological thinker of his generation. Taking a long view of his entire scientific career and peppered with brilliant anecdotes, Sentience crystallizes Humphreys latest thinking on the evolution of consciousness. There are many dazzling insights on offer but, for me, the most eye-catching development is the formulation of a framework for determining which other animal species are sentient or even in possession of a sense of self. How staggeringly bold! Imagine what a shock wave such a test would generate, scientifically and philosophically, of course, but also out into the political sphere. * Paul Broks, author of Into the Silent Land: Travels in Neuropsychology and The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Stars: A Neuropsychologists Odyssey Through Consciousness *

Contents: Prologue 1: Sentience and Consciousness 2: Foothills 3: Phosphenes: The Touch of Light 4: Blythe Spirits 5: What the Frog's Eye Tells the Monkey's Brain 6: Blindsight 7: Sight Unseen 8: Red Sky at Night 9: Nature's Psychologists 10: On the Track of Sensations 11: Evolving Sentience 12: The Road Taken 13: The Phenomenal Self 14: Theoretical Misprisions 15: Coming to Be 16: Devising a Test 17: Panpsychism 18: Sentience All the Way Down? 19: Mapping the Landscape 20: Getting Warmer 21: Testing, Testing 22: Qualiaphilia 23: The Self in Action 24: Taking Stock 25: Machina ex Deo 26: Closer to the Truth Acknowledgements References and Notes

Author Biography: Nicholas Humphrey is a theoretical psychologist based in Cambridge, who studies the evolution of intelligence and consciousness. His interests are wide-ranging. He was the first to demonstrate the existence of 'blindsight' after brain damage in monkeys, did research on mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey in Rwanda, proposed the celebrated theory of the 'social function of intellect' and has investigated the evolutionary background of religion, art, healing, death-awareness, and suicide. His honours include the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize, the Pufendorf Medal and the International Mind and Brain Prize. His most recent books are Seeing Red and Soul Dust.