In this pathbreaking book, one of Britain’s most eloquent and original thinkers writes about the head, what happens in it, and how it is and is not connected to our sense of identity and consciousness. Blending science, philosophy, and humor, Raymond Tallis examines the extraordinarily complex relationship we have with our heads. His aim, as he says, “is to turn readers into astonished tourists of the piece of the world that is closest to them, so they never again take for granted the head that looks at them from the mirror.” Readers will delight that this is precisely what he accomplishes. The voyage begins with a meditation on the self-portrait of a mirror image, followed by a consideration of the head’s various secretions. Tallis contemplates the air we exhale; the subtle meanings of nods, winks, and smiles; the mysteries of hearing, taste, and smell. He discusses the metaphysics of the gaze, the meaning of kissing, and the processes by which the head comes to understand the world. Along the way he offers intriguing digressions on such notions as “having” and “using” one’s head, and enjoying and suffering it. Tallis concludes with his thoughts on the very thing the reader’s head has been doing throughout the book: thinking. (20080915)
Author(s): Raymond Tallis
Edition: 1st
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 344
Contents......Page 10
Acknowledgements......Page 12
Foreword......Page 14
1 Facing Up to the Head......Page 22
2 The Secreting Head......Page 37
First Explicitly Philosophical Digression: Being My Head......Page 66
3 The Head Comes To......Page 72
4 Airhead: Breathing and Its Variations......Page 86
5 Communicating With Air......Page 111
Second Explicitly Philosophical Digression: Enjoying and Suffering My Head......Page 120
6 Communicating Without Air......Page 123
7 Notes on the Red-Cheeked Animal: The Geology of a Blush......Page 137
8 The Watchtower......Page 150
9 The Sensory Room......Page 177
Third Explicitly Philosophical Digression: Having and Using My Head......Page 201
10 Head Traffic: Eating, Vomiting and Smoking......Page 207
11 Head on Head: Notes on Kissing......Page 223
12 Headgear......Page 232
Fourth Explicitly Philosophical Digression: Caretaking My Head......Page 243
13 In the Wars......Page 247
14 The Dwindles......Page 257
Final Explicitly Philosophical Digression: Knowing (and Not Knowing) My Head......Page 278
15 Head and World......Page 281
16 The Thinking Head......Page 295
Epilogue: Heading Off......Page 309
Notes......Page 314
B......Page 334
C......Page 335
E......Page 336
G......Page 337
I......Page 338
M......Page 339
P......Page 340
S......Page 341
T......Page 343
Y......Page 344
Z......Page 345
