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The Four Realms of Existence: A New Theory of Being Human Hardcover – October 24, 2023

by Joseph E. LeDoux (Author)
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 20 ratings
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One of the world’s leading experts on mind and brain takes us on an expedition that reveals a new view of what makes us who we are.

Humans have long thought of their bodies and minds as separate spheres of existence. The body is physical―the source of aches and pains. But the mind is mental; it perceives, remembers, believes, feels, and imagines. Although modern science has largely eliminated this mind-body dualism, people still tend to imagine their minds as separate from their physical being. Even in research, the notion of the “self” as somehow distinct from the rest of the organism persists.

Joseph LeDoux argues that we have hit an epistemological wall―that ideas like the self are increasingly barriers to discovery and understanding. He offers a new framework of who we are, theorizing four realms of existence―bodily, neural, cognitive, and conscious.

The biological realm makes life possible. Hence, every living thing exists biologically. Animals, uniquely, supplement biological existence with a nervous system. This neural component enables them to control their bodies with speed and precision unseen in other forms of life. Some animals with nervous systems possess a cognitive realm, which allows the creation of internal representations of the world around them. These mental models are used to control a wide range of behaviors. Finally, the conscious realm allows its possessors to have inner experiences of, and thoughts about, the world.

Together, LeDoux shows, these four realms make humans who and what we are. They cooperate continuously and underlie our capacity to live and experience ourselves as beings with a past, present, and future. The result, LeDoux shows, is not a self but an “ensemble of being” that subsumes our entire human existence, both as individuals and as a species.

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  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
  4. Publication date
    October 24, 2023
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.25 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0674261259
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0674261259
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

Quote from Daniel L. Schacter

Quote from Anil Seth

Quote from Daniel J. Levitin

Editorial Reviews

Review

“LeDoux’s aim is to provide a new theory of being human by dividing our evolutionary past into four realms: biological at the bottom, then neurobiological, cognitive and conscious…Along the way are excellent accounts of the evolution of brain structures and cognitive abilities.”―Susan Blackmore, New Scientist

“[LeDoux] suggests that there are four basic varieties of life on Earth: biological, neurobiological, cognitive and conscious. The book provides an in-depth description of these realms (I found the cognitive one especially thought-provoking) and describes how they evolved.”―Liad Mudrik, Nature

“A rigorously scientific yet eminently readable exploration of what it means to be human…[LeDoux] delves into complex notions of personality and the self, the construction of internal narratives, and memory, elegantly making the case for the emergent properties of the mind without recourse to an undetectable soul or reducing the complexity of human existence to merely physical factors. The result is a finely wrought, thought-provoking feast for the mind.”―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Joseph LeDoux is one of the most influential researchers and engaging writers in contemporary neuroscience. In The Four Realms of Existence, LeDoux takes the reader on an eye-opening journey into some of the most profound mysteries of mind and brain. Full of provocative ideas and startling insights, this captivating book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the basis of human experience.”―Daniel L. Schacter, author of The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers

“Joe LeDoux is a leading light in the neuroscience of consciousness, and his new book is fascinating, engaging, and provocative. He proposes that consciousness is a kind of story that the brain tells itself, and he backs up this intriguing proposal with a wealth of evidence, including many discoveries of his own. Well worth reading.”―Anil Seth, author of Being You: A New Science of Consciousness

“LeDoux is a deep and synthetic thinker, aiming to advance our understanding of the mind in a way that is consistent with our best science and philosophy. His encyclopedic mastery of evolutionary biology, neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and the philosophy of mind allows him to build a theory of mind that does justice to the theory of evolution. A terrific book!”―Owen Flanagan, author of How to Do Things with Emotions

“One of our great scientific storytellers, Joe LeDoux deftly exposes the insufficiencies of current understandings of self and personality to capture the totality of who and what a person is in this fascinating and deeply researched book on what it means to be human.”―Daniel J. Levitin, author of The Organized Mind and Successful Aging

About the Author

Joseph E. LeDoux is Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science and Professor of Neural Science, Psychology, Psychiatry, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at New York University. He directs the Emotional Brain Institute at NYU. His many books include Anxious and, most recently, The Deep History of Ourselves.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press; 1st edition (October 24, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674261259
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674261259
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.33 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.25 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 20 ratings

About the author

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Joseph Ledoux

Joseph Ledoux

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Joseph LeDoux is the Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science at NYU in the Center for Neural Science, and he directs the Emotional Brain Institute of NYU and the Nathan Kline Institute. He also a Professor of Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical School. His work is focused on the brain mechanisms of memory and emotion and he is the author of The Emotional Brain, Synaptic Self, and Anxious. LeDoux has received a number of awards, including the Karl Spencer Lashley Award from the American Philosophical Society, the Fyssen International Prize in Cognitive Science, Jean Louis Signoret Prize of the IPSEN Foundation, the Santiago Grisolia Prize, the American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, the American Psychological Association Donald O. Hebb Award, and Jean-Marie Delwart Foundation 2016 International Prize for Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms Underlying Mood. LeDoux is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His book Anxious received the 2016 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association. LeDoux is also the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band, The Amygdaloids (amygdaloids.com), and in the acoustic duo, So We Are (soweare.net)..

Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
20 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

YON - Jan C. Hardenbergh
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Model of Consciousness and all that supports it.
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
This the most detailed, most researched, most up to date, and quite frankly the Best Model of Consciousness articulated in LeDoux's the 4th Realm. The first Realm is biological, the second is neuro-bio-logical, third is Cognitive. LeDoux splits Kahneman's System 1 into the neurobiological and the cognitive realms and then renames System 2 to be System 3, Consciousness, the Fourth Realm.

The book builds and codes concepts and in the last chapter, Ledoux lays out the Mental Model of Consciousness. Here is a quote from the end of the book. It reads like dense code, but after reading thru the book, the code and the model make sense.

” For example, within-modality features of visual objects (the color and shape of an apple) are bound together in the visual cortex. Then multimodal binding involving convergence zones in the parietal and temporal lobes integrates the visual representations with representations from other modalities, such as audition. Episodic multimodal visual scenes are constructed in parietal and hippocampal circuits. The final construction of the multimodal Gestalt representation requires the assembly of schema in the sub-granular meso-cortex. These schema are then integrated into granular PFC working memory, providing the conceptual foundation for the pre-conscious mental model of the present moment.

The output of the pre-conscious model, I suggest, results in a conscious experience with multimodal content, much like Baddeley suggested for his hypothetical episodic buffer. Baddeley stopped short of explaining how the episodic buffer might enable complex conscious experience. I will pick up where he left off, focusing on how complex multimodal experiences are constructed as higher-order states.

My proposal, in brief, is that conscious experience is not a direct output of the pre-conscious mental model but is instead secondary to an abstract (that is, multimodal, or modality independent), pre-conscious, narrative code, a kind of mentalese, that the model generates. But before I explain the mentalese nature of the narrative, I need to explain mentalese itself.”

If you are still reading this, you will LOVE this book
8 people found this helpful
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Max Bennett
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant. Essential reading for anyone interested in the science of consciousness.
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2023
Verified Purchase
LeDoux presents a fascinating theory of consciousness, grounded both in cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary neuroscience.LeDoux presents a framework of four "realms": The Biological Realm, The Neurobiological Realm, The Cognitive Realm, and The Conscious Realm. By meticulously defining and categorizing these "realms", he sheds helps us understand what consciousness is and is not, and how it relates to the many other attributes of life, brains, and intelligence itself.

It is essential reading for anyone interested in the science of consciousness.
7 people found this helpful
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Dr Sven Hansen
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspired reasoning of human consciousness
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2023
Verified Purchase
In my view as a biologist, Le Doux provides a masterful panorama of the journey from early life to the emergence of consciousness. Whilst similar in biological logic to Sapolsky’s Determined, it is full of hope for our unfolding journey to claim the potential in being human. Bravo!
3 people found this helpful
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Dr. P. L. Kent
5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the faint of heart
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2023
Verified Purchase
This newest book by Joseph LeDoux is more than a summary of his prior works. It expands on his many insights into human nature and presents a new theory of consciousness and self. It is heavily laden with technical discussions about how consciousness and self emerge from various brain regions. As such, it may be hard going for readers without a background in the neurosciences.
11 people found this helpful
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Bhagwan Chowdhry
5.0 out of 5 stars The most rewarding book on consciousness
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2023
My wife got this book and over the Thanksgiving weekend gave it to me saying that I may enjoy reading it. This is not my field of expertise but I have been interested in (who isn't) and have been reading about consciousness as a layperson, John Searle, Daniel Dennett, David Chalmers, Michael Graziano, Stephen Batchelor etc. But oh my, when I started reading LeDoux's book, I could not put it down and finished Part I right away. The author is a great storyteller but also educates you about the work of other people with humility and clarity. Not only laypersons, but even experts will find the work illuminating because it brings together many ideas together in a coherent fashion. Parts II to V go into more detail where the author builds his theory in steps - some of it requires deep reading, thinking, reflecting, and then proceeding. The central idea in the book as I understood is that consciousness requires a hierarchy where some information is pre-processed before sending it up to a higher level where it interacts with memory, context, feedback loops, and past experiences. Self-reflection, and reflecting with others is an integral part of creating meaning. The author's approach is deeply scientific and empirically based but it also embraces philosophical approaches. I will be reading and re-reading it over and over because every reading is rewarding in a different way. Buy it, read it, treasure it. You will not be disappointed.
6 people found this helpful
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