Quassim Cassam has been Lecturer in Philosophy at Oxford University, and Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford, since 1986. In 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the editor of the volume on Self-Knowledge in the Oxford Readings in Philosophy series (1994).

"Extraordinarily clear, thorough, balanced, accurate, and judicious. Cassam's book significantly advances our understanding of these questions."--Derek Parfit

"In this book Cassam argues for the thesis that a necessary part of being conscious of oneself as a subject of thought and experience is the being conscious of oneself as a corporeal object among others. The sustained and intricate argument refers both to such great predecessors as Descartes, Locke, Hume, and Kant and to many of our own contemporaries. Rarely, if ever, has the intractable problem of self-consciousness been handled with such thoroughness, subtlety, and precision. Dr. Cassam's book will be indispensable to any philosopher concerned with this difficult topic."--Sir Peter Strawson