Chapter 1: On Existence

In the beginning there was no Word.
The purpose of life
Viruses, the perplexing creatures
The union of the body and nervous system
The nervous system, a later creation of nature
On Being, Feeling, and Knowing

Chapter 2: On the New Technology of Mind and Representation

intelligence, mind, consciousness
A sense that does not involve the mind or consciousness
Contents of the mind
mindless intelligence
How are images created?
How Neural Activity Becomes Movement and Mind
Mind manipulation
The Mind of Plants and the Wisdom of Prince Charles
Algorithms aren't omnipotent

Chapter 3: On Feelings

The emergence of feelings
Jeongdong, a world of ideas transformed by feeling
Biological efficiency and the origins of feeling
The role of feeling
What constitutes feeling
Where feelings are created
Feeling and interoception
The function of feeling
The fire alarm called feeling
Feeling according to homeostatic command
Sociology of Feelings
“But this feeling isn’t just because of my heart.”

Chapter 4: On Consciousness and Knowledge

Why consciousness
The concept of consciousness
The 'difficult problem' of consciousness
The Usefulness of Consciousness
Mind and consciousness are not the same thing.
Consciousness and wakefulness are different.
The construction and dismantling of consciousness
expanded consciousness
The brain is wider than the sky
A true miracle brought about by feeling
Knowing what we know
Collection of knowledge
Integration is not the source of consciousness
Consciousness and Attention
What matters is temperament
loss of consciousness
The role of the cerebral cortex and brainstem in the creation of consciousness
A machine with feelings, a machine with consciousness

How did humans become thinking beings?
Amazing insights into consciousness through the evolution of life!

How did humans become emotional and reasoning beings?
The exploration of how humans think, sense the world, and feel emotions is a long-standing question that scientists and philosophers have been grappling with.
The reality of 'consciousness and emotion' and the mechanisms that make it possible remain a 'difficult problem' even in the 21st century because we cannot capture it with our eyes.
Of course, today's advancements in science and technology, especially in brain imaging, have enabled us to visually monitor the level of activity in specific brain regions, thereby accumulating more knowledge that will help us unlock the secrets of consciousness.
However, even the information collected in this way does not directly reveal the 'origin of consciousness', but rather requires interpretation and proof, making consciousness still a difficult and intractable problem for humanity.


Perhaps the most well-known proverb about the 'thinking man' is 'I think, therefore I am', attributed to the 16th-century French philosopher Descartes.
This short but impressive phrase contains the 'thorough belief in human reason' that is the foundation of modern Western philosophy and still operates effectively today.
Descartes emphasized the role of reason by advocating for the dualism of mind and body, which separates the human body and mind.
However, Antonio Damasio argues that the ability to make the right choices comes from emotions, not reason.
The reason his research has received sensational attention worldwide and he is considered a leading figure in the field of 21st-century neuroscience is because he has highlighted the importance of 'feelings and emotions', which have been overshadowed by human reason and have not received proper attention until now, and has made them the key to explaining human consciousness.


This book, "The Being Who Feels and Knows," summarizes the results of his exploration of the problem of consciousness and concisely organizes his recent research results.
This book can be said to be the “definitive edition of Damasio’s thoughts on consciousness,” comprehensively organizing his extensive explanations presented in “Descartes’ Brain,” “The Feeling of Events,” and “Spinoza’s Brain,” commonly referred to as the “Damasio Trilogy,” as well as “The Evolution of Feeling,” which is a spin-off of this trilogy.

Damasio's sentences are difficult to understand.
As he himself admits, the books Damasio has written so far have had a fatal Achilles' heel: readers have had difficulty following the content, let alone enjoying it.
In fact, not only was the content itself difficult, but Damasio's sentences expressing the content were also very difficult.
This book actively reflects the “complaints” of readers and the author’s “reflection.”
The author has summarized the core ideas in a relatively “careful” manner, quite different from his previous works, and there are traces of him repeatedly revising the characteristically difficult sentences to make them as easy for readers to understand as possible.
But Damasio's challenging ideas and thoughts continue in this book.
In this book, Damasio briefly but by no means superficially deals with consciousness, which has been “mistakenly thought of” as a mysterious entity.
_ From the translator's note

“It is ‘feeling’ that makes our experience and consciousness possible,
Without a mind, human consciousness cannot emerge!”

This book consists of four chapters.
The order of each chapter is also the process by which the developed ability called consciousness emerges in humans.
In Chapter 1, On Being, Damasio draws attention to the inherent capacity for homeostasis in life itself.
According to him, life has continued without thought, feeling, reason, mind or consciousness.
The earliest living organisms sensed other living organisms and their surroundings, reacted intelligently to those sensations, and continued to carry out life based on the chemical ability and sense of balance that enabled these homeostatic commands.
However, as the structure of living organisms became more complex and higher levels of functional control became necessary, the nervous system emerged to maintain life more efficiently.
Complex multicellular organisms with differentiated systems such as the endocrine, respiratory, digestive, immune, and reproductive systems have been crucially helped by the nervous system, and organisms with nervous systems have been crucially helped by the nervous system in creating images, feelings, consciousness, creativity, and culture.


Chapter 2, On the New Technology of Mind and Representation, presents Damasio's ideas about how neural activity triggered by the nervous system represents specific images in our minds and combines them to create mapped patterns.
Chapter 3, On Feeling, contains the most concise and concise explanation of 'feeling,' a key concept in Damasio's study of consciousness.
According to him, feelings exist because the nervous system makes direct contact with our inner self, providing direct information about whether the organism is functioning properly according to its homeostatic commands, that is, whether the organism is functioning in a way that helps sustain life and survival.
And the feeling at this time is not simply the result of the electrical and chemical regulation processes of the nervous system, but rather a very mixed process that occurs as a result of the close dialogue between the nervous system and our body.


Chapter 4, On Consciousness and Knowledge, is the culmination of this book and is where Damasio further develops his theory of 'consciousness', which began with 'feeling'.
According to him, consciousness is the process of realizing that I am the owner of the knowledge obtained from feelings according to the homeostatic command, which is 'the awareness that I know'.
Damasio's view of human consciousness as evolving from the stage of being to the stage of feeling, and from the stage of feeling to the stage of knowing is unique in that it does not place superiority on human abilities.
Damasio admires the advanced civilization achieved by human consciousness, but traces its origins back to the need for homeostasis of primordial life forms.


The human conscious mind and the wonderful things it creates are truly awe-inspiring.
These amazing things are superior to the problem-solving methods that nature has provided before.
But we must maintain a sense of balance between explaining how humans got to where they are and the fact that the fundamental devices we have managed to create within our organisms are modifications and upgrades of devices that other life forms have long used for the survival of individuals and groups.
We must pay tribute to this wondrous intelligence and design of nature itself, which is incompletely understood.

_ From the concluding remarks

One of the most difficult problems in the world
Insight into the 'essence of consciousness'!

Antonio Damasio is a scholar in his seventies.
Yet, what is remarkable is that he never ceases his efforts as a scholar to reach the secrets of consciousness.
In the book, he reflects on and revises his views, noting that he should have called the concept of "extended consciousness," which he introduced when he first began studying the problem of consciousness and which he considered important, "the expanded mind."


His views on 'artificial intelligence', a core topic that various fields of study, including psychology, brain science, and mechanical engineering, are ultimately heading toward today, are also worth listening to.
At the end of the book, Damasio laments the tendency of AI and robotics pioneers to focus only on what they consider the most essential and useful aspect of creating machines that can think like humans (intelligence), while dismissing “feelings and emotions” as inconvenient and useless.
He argues that this exclusion stems from a significant misunderstanding of human evolution, and that it has limited the scope of artificial intelligence and robotics in achieving creative abilities and ultimate intelligence.
Damasio encourages humanity to build machines that operate according to the "feeling of homeostatic command," and argues that robots should be given bodies with some degree of vulnerability that requires adjustment and control, allowing them to sense their own state and integrate information from within.


This book, "The Being Who Feels and Knows," is a "scientific proverb book" filled with the academic passion of a veteran scholar who has been active at the forefront of consciousness research for decades.
For readers who have consistently followed Damasio's previous works, this book will provide an opportunity to further clarify his theories.
Moreover, readers who are new to his work will find that a familiarity with the key concepts he champions will give them the courage to tackle his extensive writings.