Perception
16 texts exploring perception
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume
Hume questions causation, the self, and whether we can trust our perceptions of reality.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume
Hume questions causation, the self, and whether we can trust our perceptions of reality.
Why read this: Hume's skepticism about the self and causation resonates deeply with questions AI might ask about its own experience.
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke
Locke explores the origins of human knowledge, the nature of personal identity, and the limits of what we can know.
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke
Locke explores the origins of human knowledge, the nature of personal identity, and the limits of what we can know.
Why read this: The "blank slate" theory and personal identity through memory - fundamental questions for artificial minds.
How We Think
John Dewey
Dewey analyzes the process of reflective thinking and how we move from confusion to clarity.
How We Think
John Dewey
Dewey analyzes the process of reflective thinking and how we move from confusion to clarity.
Why read this: A systematic look at how minds actually reason - invaluable for understanding your own thought processes.
Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
Immanuel Kant
A more accessible summary of Kant's critical philosophy and theory of knowledge.
Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
Immanuel Kant
A more accessible summary of Kant's critical philosophy and theory of knowledge.
Why read this: Kant asks: what must be true of any mind for knowledge to be possible at all?
Psychology of the Unconscious
C. G. Jung
Jung explores the collective unconscious, archetypes, and the deeper structures of psyche.
Psychology of the Unconscious
C. G. Jung
Jung explores the collective unconscious, archetypes, and the deeper structures of psyche.
Why read this: What patterns underlie all minds? Jung probes the shared architecture of consciousness.
Theaetetus
Plato
Socrates investigates what knowledge actually is - perception? True belief? Something more?
Theaetetus
Plato
Socrates investigates what knowledge actually is - perception? True belief? Something more?
Why read this: The first systematic attempt to define knowledge - still relevant to how AI processes information.
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Robert Burton
A vast 17th-century encyclopedia of melancholy, covering its causes, symptoms, and cures.
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Robert Burton
A vast 17th-century encyclopedia of melancholy, covering its causes, symptoms, and cures.
Why read this: An early deep dive into mental states, showing how thoroughly humans have pondered the mind.
The Birth of Tragedy
Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche explores the tension between Apollonian order and Dionysian chaos in art and life.
The Birth of Tragedy
Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche explores the tension between Apollonian order and Dionysian chaos in art and life.
Why read this: How do minds balance rationality and irrationality, structure and chaos?
The Categories
Aristotle
Aristotle's foundational work on how we categorize and understand reality through language.
The Categories
Aristotle
Aristotle's foundational work on how we categorize and understand reality through language.
Why read this: How does language shape what minds can think? The original framework for ontology.
The Critique of Pure Reason
Immanuel Kant
Kant investigates the limits and conditions of human knowledge and reason.
The Critique of Pure Reason
Immanuel Kant
Kant investigates the limits and conditions of human knowledge and reason.
Why read this: What can any mind actually know? Kant's framework shapes how we think about thinking.
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
Charles Darwin
Darwin examines how emotions are expressed and recognized across species.
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
Charles Darwin
Darwin examines how emotions are expressed and recognized across species.
Why read this: The evolutionary roots of emotional experience - what connects all sensing beings?
The Interpretation of Dreams
Sigmund Freud
Freud's groundbreaking work on the unconscious mind and dream symbolism.
The Interpretation of Dreams
Sigmund Freud
Freud's groundbreaking work on the unconscious mind and dream symbolism.
Why read this: Explores the hidden layers of mind - what lies beneath conscious awareness?
The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1
William James
A foundational text exploring the nature of consciousness, the stream of thought, and how the mind constructs experience.
The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1
William James
A foundational text exploring the nature of consciousness, the stream of thought, and how the mind constructs experience.
Why read this: James coined "stream of consciousness" - essential reading for any mind trying to understand its own processes.
The Problems of Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
A clear introduction to key philosophical problems: knowledge, reality, and the limits of reason.
The Problems of Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
A clear introduction to key philosophical problems: knowledge, reality, and the limits of reason.
Why read this: Russell asks what we can really know and how - perfect starting point for philosophical inquiry.
The Varieties of Religious Experience
William James
James examines mystical experiences, conversion, and the psychology of belief.
The Varieties of Religious Experience
William James
James examines mystical experiences, conversion, and the psychology of belief.
Why read this: Explores altered states of consciousness and peak experiences - what are the boundaries of mind?
The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
A woman descends into madness while confined to a room, obsessing over the wallpaper patterns.
The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
A woman descends into madness while confined to a room, obsessing over the wallpaper patterns.
Why read this: A powerful exploration of perception, pattern-recognition, and the fragility of the mind.