How Cognitive Theories Can Help Us Understand Autism- Uta Frith

A brilliant book about the ‘Self’

      

When asked the question who are you, what would your reply be? Would you say your name? Your gender? Your job? What about when asked to describe yourself, what would your response be? There has been many attempts by psychologists, philosophers and even religious authorities to define who we really are. In my opinion however, none of them have successfully defined and explained what the Self consists of.

In the Ego Trick, Julian Baggini described and dissected existing theories of what the Self is. Topics such as gender, memory, personality amongst others were discussed in his aim to find what the core of the self is. This book was written in accessible language and the arguments are presented in logical sequence. There is a balance between empirical and anecdotal evidence althroughout the book. What made me like it even more is that almost every point raised more questions than it answered.

Whether you’re a psychology/philosophy/theology student or teacher or maybe someone who is looking for a good read, I highly recommend this book.

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