While reading the first chapter of Helen Hackett’s book ‘The Elizabethan Mind : Searching for the Self in an Age of Uncertainty’ I was struck by the ideas about the mind , and the part played by Humours and Melancholy in the lives of the Elizabethans.

I thought first of ‘Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness’

And this quotation from Noë’s book on Consciousness:

And Julian Jaynes book:

I must confess that I purchased this book in 1976, and had not yet read it. Yet when I thought of Noë’s book, I knew where I had Jaynes book stored. My intellectual ambition is subject to a disturbing lack of discipline, allied to a fear of my possible lack of ability to understand. Yet Jaynes’ style is always lucid and at times poetic , I was more that a little intimidated by the subject matter. And my lack of experience with Consciousness. I have not read these books, in their entirety: yet I was struck that The Elizabethans made me think about their view of the world, themselves and the vitality of their milieu. Both Noë and Jaynes offer thoughts on ‘Consciousness’ … perhaps further reading of both their books will offer further insights on the possible interaction between the two?

Philosophical Apprentice