Review of The Strange Order of Things by Damasio

Review by John Banville. Recall that Damasio said in Self Comes to Mind: "Before consciousness, life regulation was entirely automated; after consciousness begins, life regulation retains its automation but gradually comes under the influence of self-oriented deliberations" (136). This is reiterated in the video of him talking about the new book where he talked about the relationship between self consciousness and feeling (12:25). "The ability to know that comes through consciousness is what allows you to know that you have those feelings. But historically, in evolution, feelings, when they developed, were already developing a very important component of consciousness, which is subjectivity."