The Hope And Horror Of Physicalism

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The Hope and Horror of Physicalism

Author : Christopher Devlin Brown
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1040046452
Total Pages : 147 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (4 download)

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Book Synopsis The Hope and Horror of Physicalism by : Christopher Devlin Brown

Download or read book The Hope and Horror of Physicalism written by Christopher Devlin Brown and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-06-14 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book assesses the existentially relevant consequences of physicalism. It argues that accepting physicalism is the healthiest stance we can take in the face of an account of the self and world which offers no metaphysical assurances. Why should we care about physicalism? On one hand, the view seems to be inconsistent with things that many people find valuable, such as the existence of free will, God, the immortal soul, ultimate purpose, and natural laws like karma. On the other hand, physicalism seems to have positive existential implications such as supporting the unlimited potential of scientific understanding or the attitude that we need not fear supernatural powers or forces because they don’t exist. This book argues that physicalism has several consequences that are of existential import. It begins by outlining the history of physicalism and explaining two popular ways of understanding it: the via negativa approach and the theory-based approach. The rest of Part 1 explores the existential consequences of these two versions of physicalism. Part 2 draws on Nietzsche to construct an argument about what attitude we ought to adopt toward physicalism. It argues that we ought to avoid nihilism and despair even when being confronted with a picture of the universe which offers no metaphysical assurances. Finally, Part 3 is dedicated to how well physicalism deals with the hard problem of consciousness, mental causation, and multiple realization. The Hope and Horror of Physicalism will appeal to anyone interested in a contemporary approach to existential philosophy, as well as scholars and advanced students working in the fields of philosophy of mind and metaphysics.

The Hope and Horror of Physicalism

Author : Christopher Devlin Brown
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781032721590
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (215 download)

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Book Synopsis The Hope and Horror of Physicalism by : Christopher Devlin Brown

Download or read book The Hope and Horror of Physicalism written by Christopher Devlin Brown and published by . This book was released on 2024 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book assesses the existentially relevant consequences of physicalism. It argues that accepting physicalism is the healthiest stance we can take in the face of an account of the self and world which offers no metaphysical assurances. Why should we care about physicalism? On one hand, the view seems to be inconsistent with things that many people find valuable, such as the existence of free will, God, the immortal soul, ultimate purpose, and natural laws like karma. On the other hand, physicalism seems to have positive existential implications, such as supporting the unlimited potential of scientific understanding or the attitude that we need not fear supernatural powers or forces because they don't exist. This book argues that physicalism has several consequences that are of existential import. It begins by outlining the history of physicalism and explaining two popular ways of understanding it: the via negativa approach and the theory-based approach. The rest of Part 1 explores the existential consequences of these two versions of physicalism. Part 2 draws on Nietzsche to construct an argument about what attitude we ought to adopt toward physicalism. It argues that we ought to avoid nihilism and despair even when confronted with a picture of the universe which offers no metaphysical assurances. Finally, Part 3 is dedicated to how well physicalism deals with the hard problem of consciousness, mental causation, and multiple realization. The Hope and Horror of Physicalism will appeal to anyone interested in a contemporary approach to existential philosophy, as well as scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of mind and metaphysics"--

Intentionality as Constitution

Author : Alberto Voltolini
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1040088341
Total Pages : 239 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (4 download)

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Book Synopsis Intentionality as Constitution by : Alberto Voltolini

Download or read book Intentionality as Constitution written by Alberto Voltolini and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-06-28 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book develops a novel theory of intentionality. It argues that intentionality is an internal essential relation of constitution between an intentional state and an object, or between such a state and a possible state of affairs as subsisting. The author’s main claim is that intentionality is a fundamentally modal property, hence a non (scientifically) natural property in that it does not supervene, either locally or globally, on its nonmodal physical basis. This is the property, primarily for an intentional mental state, to be constituted by the entities it is about. In the case of intentionality of reference, such constituents are objects, in the sense of individuals; in the case of intentionality of content, such constituents are possible states of affairs as subsisting. Constitution is meant in a mereologically literal sense: those constituents are essential parts of the relevant states. As a result, the theory claims not only that intentionality is relational but also that it is an internal, essential relation holding between an intentional state and its object or proposition-like content. Intentionality as Constitution will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, metaphysics, and cognitive science.

Descent of the Dialectic

Author : Michael J. Thompson
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1040099785
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (4 download)

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Book Synopsis Descent of the Dialectic by : Michael J. Thompson

Download or read book Descent of the Dialectic written by Michael J. Thompson and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-08-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reconstructs the concept and practice of dialectics as a means of grounding a critical theory of society. At the center of this project is the thesis of phronetic criticism or a form of reason that is able to synthesize human value with objective rationality. This book argues that defects in modern forms of social reason are the result of the powers of social structure and the norms and purposes they embody. Increasingly, modern societies are driven not by substantive values concerning human good but by the technical imperatives of economic management, leading to a cultural condition of nihilism that has eroded dialectical consciousness. The first half of the book demonstrates the various ways that social power erodes and undermines critical-rational forms of consciousness. The second part of the book constructs an alternative basis for critical reason by showing how it requires seeing human value as essentially ontological: that is, constituted by objective forms of sociality that either promote human freedom or pervert our capacities and drive toward pathological forms of life. The philosophical claim is that a critical theory of ethics must be rooted in these concrete forms of life and that this will serve as a critical vantage point for critical political judgment and transformational praxis. Descent of the Dialectic will be of interest to researchers working in philosophy, political theory, social theory, and critical theory.

Physicalism and Its Discontents

Author : Carl Gillett
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 0521801753
Total Pages : 381 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (218 download)

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Book Synopsis Physicalism and Its Discontents by : Carl Gillett

Download or read book Physicalism and Its Discontents written by Carl Gillett and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-11-26 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of essays by physicalists and their critics on the important doctrine of physicalism, first published in 2001.

Evolutionary Philosophy

Author : Ed Gibney
Publisher : Lulu.com
ISBN 13 : 110569660X
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (56 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolutionary Philosophy by : Ed Gibney

Download or read book Evolutionary Philosophy written by Ed Gibney and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-04-24 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evolutionary Philosophy is the foundation text for a new belief system. We are all products of evolution. Understanding all of the implications of this statement leads to a comprehensive worldview that can answer our universally shared questions: Where did I come from? What am I? What is a good life? How do I know? These questions and many more are answered in this book, before the beliefs of 60 of the top philosophers of history are put to the test in an evaluation of the survival of their fittest ideas. This is an audacious work of research and analysis from author Ed Gibney, who finishes by asking readers to help Evolutionary Philosophy to grow and adapt as mankind's knowledge continues to accumulate. This clear and accessible work promises to help you reevaluate mankind's place in the universe and your place in society.

Parapsychology

Author : Etzel Cardeña
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 0786479167
Total Pages : 425 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (864 download)

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Book Synopsis Parapsychology by : Etzel Cardeña

Download or read book Parapsychology written by Etzel Cardeña and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-07-31 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many people have experienced such unusual phenomena as dreams that later seem to correspond with unforeseeable events, thinking of a long-lost friend just before he or she unexpectedly calls, or the ability to "feel" the presence of deceased loved ones. What many do not realize is that these types of experiences have been researched for more than a century by eminent scientists, including Nobel laureates. Most of these researchers have concluded that some of these phenomena do occur, although we are far from explaining them to everyone's satisfaction. This book is the first in almost 40 years to provide a comprehensive scientific overview of research in the field of parapsychology, explaining what we know and don't know about so-called psi phenomena, such as "telepathy," "precognition" or "psychokinesis." Contributors evaluate the evidence for these phenomena, accounting for factors such as selective memory, wish fulfillment and incorrect methods or analyses, in some cases offering psychological, physical and biological theories. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Without God

Author : Louis Betty
Publisher : Penn State Press
ISBN 13 : 0271078073
Total Pages : 157 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (71 download)

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Book Synopsis Without God by : Louis Betty

Download or read book Without God written by Louis Betty and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2016-06-03 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michel Houellebecq is France’s most famous and controversial living novelist. Since his first novel in 1994, Houellebecq’s work has been called pornographic, racist, sexist, Islamophobic, and vulgar. His caricature appeared on the cover of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, the day that Islamist militants killed twelve people in an attack on their offices and also the day that his most recent novel, Soumission—the story of France in 2022 under a Muslim president—appeared in bookstores. Without God uses religion as a lens to examine how Houellebecq gives voice to the underside of the progressive ethos that has animated French and Western social, political, and religious thought since the 1960s. Focusing on Houellebecq’s complicated relationship with religion, Louis Betty shows that the novelist, who is at best agnostic, “is a deeply and unavoidably religious writer.” In exploring the religious, theological, and philosophical aspects of Houellebecq’s work, Betty situates the author within the broader context of a French and Anglo-American history of ideas—ideas such as utopian socialism, the sociology of secularization, and quantum physics. Materialism, Betty contends, is the true destroyer of human intimacy and spirituality in Houellebecq’s work; the prevailing worldview it conveys is one of nihilism and hedonism in a postmodern, post-Christian Europe. In Betty’s analysis, “materialist horror” emerges as a philosophical and aesthetic concept that describes and amplifies contemporary moral and social decadence in Houellebecq’s fiction.

Philosophy of Love in the Past, Present, and Future

Author : André Grahle
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 100053751X
Total Pages : 236 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (5 download)

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Book Synopsis Philosophy of Love in the Past, Present, and Future by : André Grahle

Download or read book Philosophy of Love in the Past, Present, and Future written by André Grahle and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-01-25 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume features original essays on the philosophy of love. The essays are organized thematically around the past, present, and future of philosophical thinking about love. In Part I, the contributors explore what we can learn from the history of philosophical thinking about love. The chapters cover Ancient Greek thinkers, namely Plato and Aristotle, as well as Kierkegaard’s critique of preferential love and Erich Fromm’s mystic interpretation of sexual relations. Part II covers current conceptions and practices of love. These chapters explore how love changes over time, the process of falling in love, the erotic dimension of romantic love, and a new interpretation of grand-parental love. Finally, Part III looks at the future of love. These chapters address technological developments related to love, such as algorithm-driven dating apps and robotic companions, as well as the potential of polyamory as a future romantic ideal. This book will be of interest to researchers and advanced students in moral philosophy and social and political philosophy who are working on issues related to the philosophy of love.

Recognition and the Human Life-Form

Author : Heikki Ikäheimo
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000605809
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (6 download)

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Book Synopsis Recognition and the Human Life-Form by : Heikki Ikäheimo

Download or read book Recognition and the Human Life-Form written by Heikki Ikäheimo and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-07-08 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is recognition and why is it so important? This book develops a synoptic conception of the significance of recognition in its many forms for human persons by means of a rational reconstruction and internal critique of classical and contemporary accounts. The book begins with a clarification of several fundamental questions concerning recognition. It then reconstructs the core ideas of Fichte, Hegel, Taylor, Fraser, and Honneth and utilizes the insights and conceptual tools developed across these chapters for developing a case for the universal importance of recognition for humans. It argues in favour of a universalist anthropological position, unusual in the literature on recognition, that aims to construe a philosophically sound basis for a discourse of common humanity, or of a shared human life-form for which moral relations of recognition are essential. This synthetic conception of the importance of recognition provides tools for articulating deep intuitions shared across cultures about what makes human life and forms of human co-existence better or worse, and thus tools for mutual understanding about the deepest shared concerns of humanity, or of what makes us all human persons despite our differences. Recognition and the Human Life-Form will appeal to readers interested in philosophical anthropology, social and political philosophy, critical theory, and the history of philosophy. It also provides ideas and conceptual tools for fields such as anthropology, education, disability studies, international relations, law, politics, religious studies, sociology, and social research. Chapter 5 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

A Theology for Christian Education

Author : James R. Estep
Publisher : B&H Publishing Group
ISBN 13 : 0805464557
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (54 download)

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Book Synopsis A Theology for Christian Education by : James R. Estep

Download or read book A Theology for Christian Education written by James R. Estep and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is “Christian” about Christian education; how is it different from on-Christian education? A Theology for Christian Education examines this question in depth and argues that the doctrines of systematic theology should drive the content, purpose, and methods of the educational program of the c hurch. The book states: “Christian education is distinct from other kinds of education in that its aim is the transformation of the whole person into the likeness of Christ (Col. 1 :28). Christian education is the process of accomplishing this aim.” A Theology for Christian Education dedicates chapters to examining particular doctrines and their implications for Christian education. It is the only serious academic text to offer a systematic presentation of the intersection of theology and Christian education from a conservative evangelical perspective.

Supersizing the Mind

Author : Andy Clark
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780199831043
Total Pages : 318 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (31 download)

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Book Synopsis Supersizing the Mind by : Andy Clark

Download or read book Supersizing the Mind written by Andy Clark and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-12-31 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When historian Charles Weiner found pages of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman's notes, he saw it as a "record" of Feynman's work. Feynman himself, however, insisted that the notes were not a record but the work itself. In Supersizing the Mind, Andy Clark argues that our thinking doesn't happen only in our heads but that "certain forms of human cognizing include inextricable tangles of feedback, feed-forward and feed-around loops: loops that promiscuously criss-cross the boundaries of brain, body and world." The pen and paper of Feynman's thought are just such feedback loops, physical machinery that shape the flow of thought and enlarge the boundaries of mind. Drawing upon recent work in psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, robotics, human-computer systems, and beyond, Supersizing the Mind offers both a tour of the emerging cognitive landscape and a sustained argument in favor of a conception of mind that is extended rather than "brain-bound." The importance of this new perspective is profound. If our minds themselves can include aspects of our social and physical environments, then the kinds of social and physical environments we create can reconfigure our minds and our capacity for thought and reason.

The Ashgate Research Companion to Theological Anthropology

Author : Joshua R. Farris
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317041313
Total Pages : 548 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ashgate Research Companion to Theological Anthropology by : Joshua R. Farris

Download or read book The Ashgate Research Companion to Theological Anthropology written by Joshua R. Farris and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-09 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent scholarship there is an emerging interest in the integration of philosophy and theology. Philosophers and theologians address the relationship between body and soul and its implications for theological anthropology. In so doing, philosopher-theologians interact with cognitive science, biological evolution, psychology, and sociology. Reflecting these exciting new developments, The Ashgate Research Companion to Theological Anthropology is a resource for philosophers and theologians, students and scholars, interested in the constructive, critical exploration of a theology of human persons. Throughout this collection of newly authored contributions, key themes are addressed: human agency and grace, the soul, sin and salvation, Christology, glory, feminism, the theology of human nature, and other major themes in theological anthropology in historic as well as contemporary contexts.

Human and Machine Consciousness

Author : David Gamez
Publisher : Open Book Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1783743018
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (837 download)

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Book Synopsis Human and Machine Consciousness by : David Gamez

Download or read book Human and Machine Consciousness written by David Gamez and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2018-03-07 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consciousness is widely perceived as one of the most fundamental, interesting and difficult problems of our time. However, we still know next to nothing about the relationship between consciousness and the brain and we can only speculate about the consciousness of animals and machines. Human and Machine Consciousness presents a new foundation for the scientific study of consciousness. It sets out a bold interpretation of consciousness that neutralizes the philosophical problems and explains how we can make scientific predictions about the consciousness of animals, brain-damaged patients and machines. Gamez interprets the scientific study of consciousness as a search for mathematical theories that map between measurements of consciousness and measurements of the physical world. We can use artificial intelligence to discover these theories and they could make accurate predictions about the consciousness of humans, animals and artificial systems. Human and Machine Consciousness also provides original insights into unusual conscious experiences, such as hallucinations, religious experiences and out-of-body states, and demonstrates how ‘designer’ states of consciousness could be created in the future. Gamez explains difficult concepts in a clear way that closely engages with scientific research. His punchy, concise prose is packed with vivid examples, making it suitable for the educated general reader as well as philosophers and scientists. Problems are brought to life in colourful illustrations and a helpful summary is given at the end of each chapter. The endnotes provide detailed discussions of individual points and full references to the scientific and philosophical literature.

Anthropology as Ethics

Author : T. M. S. Evens
Publisher : Berghahn Books
ISBN 13 : 9781845456290
Total Pages : 422 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (562 download)

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Book Synopsis Anthropology as Ethics by : T. M. S. Evens

Download or read book Anthropology as Ethics written by T. M. S. Evens and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2009 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anthropology as Ethics is concerned with rethinking anthropology by rethinking the nature of reality. It develops the ontological implications of a defining thesis of the Manchester School: that all social orders exhibit basically conflicting underlying principles. Drawing especially on Continental social thought, including Wittgenstein, Merleau-Ponty, Levinas, Dumont, Bourdieu and others, and on pre-modern sources such as the Hebrew bible, the Nuer, the Dinka, and the Azande, the book mounts a radical study of the ontology of self and other in relation to dualism and nondualism. It demonstrates how the self-other dichotomy disguises fundamental ambiguity or nondualism, thus obscuring the essentially ethical, dilemmatic, and sacrificial nature of all social life. It also proposes a reason other than dualist, nihilist, and instrumental, one in which logic is seen as both inimical to and continuous with value. Without embracing absolutism, the book makes ambiguity and paradox the foundation of an ethical response to the pervasive anti-foundationalism of much postmodern thought. T. M. S. (Terry) Evens is Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his Ph.D. at the University of Manchester in 1971. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Chicago, the Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, the University of Calcutta, and Asmara University, Eritrea. He is author of Two Kinds of Rationality: Kibbutz Democracy and Generational Conflict (1995), and co-editor of the collections, Transcendence in Society: Case Studies (1990) and The Manchester School: Practice and Ethnographic Praxis in Anthropology (2006). Drawn especially to theory and phenomenology, he has sought from the beginnings of his professional career to isolate, identify, and critically explore philosophical underpinnings of empirical anthropology.

Physicalism

Author : Daniel Stoljar
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135149224
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (351 download)

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Book Synopsis Physicalism by : Daniel Stoljar

Download or read book Physicalism written by Daniel Stoljar and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-04-05 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Physicalism, the thesis that everything is physical, is one of the most controversial problems in philosophy. Its adherents argue that there is no more important doctrine in philosophy, whilst its opponents claim that its role is greatly exaggerated. In this superb introduction to the problem Daniel Stoljar focuses on three fundamental questions: the interpretation, truth and philosophical significance of physicalism. In answering these questions he covers the following key topics: a brief history of physicalism and its definitions what a physical property is and how physicalism meets challenges from empirical sciences ‘Hempel’s dilemma’ and the relationship between physicalism and physics physicalism and key debates in metaphysics and philosophy of mind, such as supervenience, identity and conceivability physicalism and causality. Additional features include chapter summaries, annotated further reading and a glossary of technical terms, making Physicalism ideal for those coming to the problem for the first time.

The Age of Em

Author : Robin Hanson
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191069663
Total Pages : 522 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Age of Em by : Robin Hanson

Download or read book The Age of Em written by Robin Hanson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-05-13 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robots may one day rule the world, but what is a robot-ruled Earth like? Many think the first truly smart robots will be brain emulations or ems. Scan a human brain, then run a model with the same connections on a fast computer, and you have a robot brain, but recognizably human. Train an em to do some job and copy it a million times: an army of workers is at your disposal. When they can be made cheaply, within perhaps a century, ems will displace humans in most jobs. In this new economic era, the world economy may double in size every few weeks. Some say we can't know the future, especially following such a disruptive new technology, but Professor Robin Hanson sets out to prove them wrong. Applying decades of expertise in physics, computer science, and economics, he uses standard theories to paint a detailed picture of a world dominated by ems. While human lives don't change greatly in the em era, em lives are as different from ours as our lives are from those of our farmer and forager ancestors. Ems make us question common assumptions of moral progress, because they reject many of the values we hold dear. Read about em mind speeds, body sizes, job training and career paths, energy use and cooling infrastructure, virtual reality, aging and retirement, death and immortality, security, wealth inequality, religion, teleportation, identity, cities, politics, law, war, status, friendship and love. This book shows you just how strange your descendants may be, though ems are no stranger than we would appear to our ancestors. To most ems, it seems good to be an em.