ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY
 HUMANIST GALAXY
OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS
June 10, 2020

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LOOKING FOR SPINOZA:
 Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain
 by Antonio Damasio
Harvest, 2003 [368 pages)

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BOOK OUTLINE
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 note = see the Anterior Cingular Cortex in diagram "A" in Appendix II (295)

1) ENTER FEELINGS (1-24)
    [1] ENTER FEELINGS (3-7)

    QUOTE = Spinoza opposed the mind-body separation advocated by Descartes; and, instead, made the revolutionary claim at the time that "the human mind is the idea of the human body" (12)

    [2] THE HAGUE (8-15)

    [3] LOOKING FOR SPINOZA [15-17)

    note = Spinoza was born in the prosperous city of Amsterdam in 1632 (16)

    [4] BEWARE (17-23)

    [5] IN THE PAVILJOENSGRACHT (23-24)
2) OF APPETITES AND EMOTIONS (25-80)

    [6] TRUST SHAKESPEARE (27-29)

    [7] EMOTIONS PRECEDE FEELINGS (29-37)

    [8] A NESTING PRINCIPLE (37-38)

    [9] MORE ON THE EMOTION-RELATED REACTIONS (38-40)

    note = From simple homeostatic regulation to emotions-proper (38-40)

    [10] THE EMOTIONS OF SIMPLE ORGANISMS (40-420)

    [11] THE EMOTIONS-PROPER (43-52)

    [12] A HYPOTHESIS IN THE FORM OF A DEFINITION (53-54)

    [13] THE BRAIN MACHINERY OF EMOTION (54-57)

    note = Use definition of "triggering sites" and illustration for Ventral Media PFC region (59)

    note = Also use 2nd paragraph for emotional states (62) and 3rd paragraph on (65)

    [14] TRIGGERING AND EXECUTING EMOTIONS (57-65)

    [15] OUT OF THE BLUE (65-73)

    [16] THE BRAINSTEM SWITCH (73-74)

    [17] OUT-OF-THE-BLUE LAUGHTER (74-77)

    [18] LAUGHTER AND SOME MORE CRYING (77-79)

    [19] FROM THE ACTIVE BODY TO THE MIND (79-80)

    note = use last 2 paragraphs to summarize evolutionary thinking (80)
3) FEELINGS (81-135)
    [20] WHAT FEELINGS ARE (83-88)

    [21] IS THERE MORE TO FEELINGS THAN THE PERCEPTION OF BODY STATE? (89-93)

    [22] FEELINGS ARE INTERACTIVE PERCEPTIONS (91-93)

    [23] MIXING MEMORY WITH DESIRE: An aside (93-96)

    [24] FEELINGS IN THE BRAIN: New evidence (96-101)

    note = use diagrams to explain locations of most important activating areas, particularly the Insula, Cingular Cortex area, and Brainstem nuclei even though normal feelings of emotion require the integrity of all of these regions. (97)

    [25] A COMMENT ON RELATED EVIDENCE (101-104)

    [26] SOME MORE CORROBORATING EVIDENCE (104-105)

    [27] THE SUBSTRATE OF FEELINGS (105-108)

    [28] WHO CAN HAVE FEELINGS? (109-111)

    [29] BODY STATES VERSUS BODY MAPS (111-112)

    [30] ACTUAL BODY STATES AND SIMULATED BODY STATES (112-113)

    [31] NATURAL ANALGESIA (113-115)

    note = use basic ideas about our bodies natural pain killers under emergency conditions (113-115)

    [32] EMPATHY (115-118)

    [33] HALLUCINATING THE BODY (118-119)

    [34] THE CHEMICALS OF FEELING (119-121)

    [35] VARIETIES OF DRUG-INDUCED FELICITY (121-124)

    note = use many ideas about sensations and progressive levels of intoxification due to drugs or alcohol (121-124)

    [36] ENTER THE NAYSAYERS (124-126)

    [37] MORE NAYSAYERS (126-133)

    note = explanation of "the way feelings feel" (130+)
4) EVER SINCE FEELINGS (135-179)
    [38] OF JOY AND SORROW (137-140)

    [39] FEELINGS AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR (140-144)

    [40] INSIDE A DECISION-MAKING MECHANISM (144-147)

    [41] WHAT THE MECHANISM ACCOMPLISHES (147-150)

    [42] THE BREAKDOWN OF A NORMAL MECHANISM (150-152)

    [43] DAMAGE TO PREFRONTAL CORTEX IN THE VERY YOUNG (152-155)

    [44] WHAT IF THE WORLD? (155-159)

    note = use chart about main social emotions - thought experiment (156-157)

    [45] NEUROBIOLOGY AND ETHICAL BEHAVIORS (159-165)

    note = varried kinds of social structure through the history of evolution (160)

    note = nice vs nasty emotions through history as a group function (163)

    [46] HOMEOSTASIS AND THE GOVERNANCE OF SOCIAL LIFE (166-169)

    [47] THE FOUNDATION OF VIRTUE (170-175)

    [48] WHAT ARE FEELINGS FOR? (175-179)
5) BODY, BRAIN, AND MIND (181-220)
    [49] BODY AND MIND (183-184)

    [50] THE HAGUE, DECEMBER 2, 1999 (184-187)

    [51] THE INVISIBLE BODY (187-191]

    [52] LOSING THE BODY AND LOSING THE MIND (191-195)

    [53] THE ASSEMBLY OF BODY IMAGES (195-197)

    [54] A QUALIFICATION (198)

    [55] THE CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY (198-200)

    [56] SEEING THINGS (200-203)

    [57] ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE MIND (204-209)

    [58] BODY, MIND, AND SPINOZO (209-217)

    note = Spin view of body parts in mid 17th century at beginning of anatomists (210-211)

    [59] CLOSING WITH DR. TULP (217-220)
6) A VISIT TO SPINOZA (221-264)
    [60] RIJNSBURG, JULY 6, 2000 (223-224)

    [61] THE AGE (224-226)

    [62] THE HAGUE, 1670 (227-230)

    [63] AMSTERDAM, 1632 (230-236)

    [64] IDEAS AND EVENT (236-239)

    [65] THE URIEL DA COSTA AFFAIR (240-245)

    [66] JEWISH PERSECUTION AND THE MARRANO TRADITION (245-250)

    [67] EXCOMMUNICATION (250-254)

    [68] THE LEGACY (254-258)

    [69] BEYOND THE ENLIGHTENMENN (258-261)

    [70] THE HAGUE, 1677 (261-262)

    [71] THE LIBRARY (262-263)

    [72] SPINOZA IN MY MIND (263-264)

7) WHO'S THERE? (265-289)

[73] THE CONTENTED LIFE (267-272)

[74] SPINOZA'S SOLUTION (273-277)

[75] THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A SOLUTION (277-279)

see = Spinza's problematic solution to pain and suffering and scientific wisdom (277-278)

note = Biting the apple of knowledge (278)

[76] SPINOZISM (279-283)

[77] HAPPY ENDINGS? (283-289)

note = Importance of describing the human spirit as being based on evolutionary biological systems (284-286)

APPENDIX I = Spinoza's personal and cultural timeline (291-294)

note = Use of "I" in history --- before, during, and after Spinoza's time (291-294)

APPENDIX "II-A" to show location of cingular cortex (295) and (296) to show somatosensory and motor main areas as well as auditory and visual (295-296)

NOTES (299-332)

GLOSSARY (333-336)
    Action potential
    Axons
    Basil forebrain
    Brainstem
    Central nervous system
    Cerebral cortex
    Cerebellum
    Cerebrum
    Corpus callosum
    Enzymes
    Gray matter
    Lesion
    MRI and fMRI
    Neurons
    Neurotransmitters and Neuromodulators
    Nuclei
    Amygdala
    Pathway
    Periaqueductal gray
    Peripheral nervous system
    PET scanning
    Projection
    Somatosensory
    Substantia nigra
    Synapses
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (337-338)

INDEX (339-355]
    Homeostasis
    Memory
    Pleasure (circuit)
    Working memory
 SUMMARY = Completing the trilogy that began with Descartes' Error and continued withThe Feeling of What Happens, noted neuroscientist Antonio Damasio now focuses the full force of his research and wisdom on emotions. He shows how joy and sorrow are cornerstones of our survival. As he investigates the cerebral mechanisms behind emotions and feelings, Damasio argues that the internal regulatory processes not only preserve life within ourselves, but they create, motivate, and even shape our greatest cultural accomplishments.

If Descartes declared a split between mind and body, Spinoza not only unified the two but intuitively understood the role of emotions in human survival and culture. So it is Spinoza who accompanies Damasio as he journeys back to the seventeenth century in search of a philosopher who, in Damasio's view, prefigured modern neuroscience.

In the book, Damasio brings us closer to understanding the delicate interaction between affect, consciousness, and memory: the processes that both keep us alive and make life worth living.

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