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El error de Descartessecond-hand

13 readers want to read it on Open Library

Published by Destino · Mind, body and spirit · ISBN 9788423361458

from€11.83cover price €11.95

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Total price with shipping, checked on 6 October 2026.

In this 1994 book, neurologist António Damásio argues that Descartes was wrong to separate mind from body and reason from emotion. Working from clinical cases, beginning with that of Phineas Gage, a railroad worker injured in 1848, he shows what happens when brain damage cuts feelings off from reasoning, and he proposes the somatic marker hypothesis: emotions steer our decisions, and without them sound reasoning becomes hard.

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Reading guide

About 10 hours of reading · Who it's for · Why people still read it · If you like it, read next
Who it's for
For readers curious about the brain, psychology or the philosophy of mind, without specialist training: it is written for a general audience, though it asks for attention. It also explains how memory, perception and emotions work.
Why people still read it
It helped challenge the opposition between reason and emotion and bring the body back into the social and behavioural sciences. Some critics object, however, that it oversimplifies Descartes's position.

Written with the help of AI from todostuslibros and Wikipedia, without giving away the ending, and reviewed by a person.

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Why we only look at used copies

In Spain, Law 10/2007 fixes the price of new books: the publisher sets it and shops can only take 5% off. Amazon, FNAC and your local bookshop all cost the same. The only place the price moves is second-hand.

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