This essay collection shows how certain questionable unexamined assumptions shape our thoughts about art, science, and social issues. Most notably, the unresolved philosophical mind-body problem "has shaped and often distorted or confused contemporary thought in neuroscience, psychiatry, genetics, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary psychology." How do ideas (in the mind) exert influence on the physical brain (in the body), as they clearly do in cases such as false pregnancy, PTSD, and the placebo effect? No one has a clear idea of where the dividing line is between the mental and the physical, the psychiatric and the neurological, or even whether such a dividing line exists; however, researchers usually act as if the division is clear. Hustvedt argues for respecting the mystery as a key aspect of the human condition, and illustrates numerous ways that the mystery manifests itself.
I had never before noticed how the mind-body problem is the same as the nature-nurture question, nor how many of our gender prejudices flow from a presumed hierarchy between the two terms (mind = male, body = female). Hustvedt effectively asks core questions (How does the placebo effect work?) before discussing abstract philosophy, and keeps the discussion grounded in her own experience. She also applies the ideas in a variety of contexts ranging from art appreciation to evolution to suicide.
As you have to expect in a collection of essays, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women repeats itself, making the same point in multiple contexts. The long piece in the middle, with the excellent title "The Delusions of Certainty," starts out strong but wears out its welcome about halfway through.
I found the book engaging and exhausting.
I had never before noticed how the mind-body problem is the same as the nature-nurture question, nor how many of our gender prejudices flow from a presumed hierarchy between the two terms (mind = male, body = female). Hustvedt effectively asks core questions (How does the placebo effect work?) before discussing abstract philosophy, and keeps the discussion grounded in her own experience. She also applies the ideas in a variety of contexts ranging from art appreciation to evolution to suicide.
As you have to expect in a collection of essays, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women repeats itself, making the same point in multiple contexts. The long piece in the middle, with the excellent title "The Delusions of Certainty," starts out strong but wears out its welcome about halfway through.
I found the book engaging and exhausting.
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