Human beings have the unique ability to consciously reflect on the nature of the self. But reflection has its costs. We can ask what the self is, but as David Hume pointed out, the self, once reflected upon, may be nowhere to be found. The favored view is that we are material beings living in the material world. But if so, a host of destabilizing questions surface. If persons are just a sophisticated sort of animal, then what sense is there to the idea that we are free agents who control our own destinies? What makes the life of any animal, even one as sophisticated as Homo sapiens,...
Human beings have the unique ability to consciously reflect on the nature of the self. But reflection has its costs. We can ask what the self is, but ...
In this trailblazing collection of essays on free will and the human mind, distinguished philosopher Owen Flanagan seeks to reconcile a scientific view of ourselves with an account of ourselves as meaning makers and agents of free will. He approaches this old philosophical quagmire from new angles, bringing to it the latest insights of neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychiatry. Covering a host of topics, these essays discuss whether the conscious mind can be explained scientifically, whether dreams are self-expressive or just noise, the moral socialization of children, and the nature of...
In this trailblazing collection of essays on free will and the human mind, distinguished philosopher Owen Flanagan seeks to reconcile a scientific vie...
Intended for anyone attempting to find their way through the large and confusingly interwoven philosophical literature on consciousness, this reader brings together most of the principal texts in philosophy (and a small set of related key works in neuropsychology) on consciousness through 1997, and includes some forthcoming articles. Its extensive coverage strikes a balance between seminal works of the past few decades and the leading edge of philosophical research on consciousness.As no other anthology currently does, The Nature of Consciousness provides a substantial introduction to the...
Intended for anyone attempting to find their way through the large and confusingly interwoven philosophical literature on consciousness, this reade...
Many philosophers believe that normative ethics is in principle independent of psychology. By contrast, the authors of these essays explore the interconnections between psychology and moral theory. They investigate the psychological constraints on realizable ethical ideals and articulate the psychological assumptions behind traditional ethics. They also examine the ways in which the basic architecture of the mind, core emotions, patterns of individual development, social psychology, and the limits on human capacities for rational deliberation affect morality.
Many philosophers believe that normative ethics is in principle independent of psychology. By contrast, the authors of these essays explore the int...
Owen Flanagan argues in this book for a more psychologically realistic ethical reflection and spells out the ways in which psychology can enrich moral philosophy. Beginning with a discussion of such "moral saints" as Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Oskar Schindler, Flanagan charts a middle course between an ethics that is too realistic and socially parochial and one that is too idealistic, giving no weight to our natures.
Owen Flanagan argues in this book for a more psychologically realistic ethical reflection and spells out the ways in which psychology can enrich moral...
The Geography of Morals is a work of extraordinary ambition: an indictment of the parochialism of Western philosophy, a comprehensive dialogue between anthropology, empirical moral psychology, behavioral economics, and cross-cultural philosophy, and a deep exploration of the opportunities for self, social, and political improvement provided by world philosophy. We live in multicultural, cosmopolitan worlds. These worlds are distinctive moral ecologies in which people enact and embody different lived philosophies and conceive of mind, morals, and the meaning of life differently...
The Geography of Morals is a work of extraordinary ambition: an indictment of the parochialism of Western philosophy, a comprehensive dialogu...
This book explores virtue epistemology as naturalistic and presents new opportunities for work on epistemic abilities, epistemic virtues and cognitive character.
This book explores virtue epistemology as naturalistic and presents new opportunities for work on epistemic abilities, epistemic virtues and cognitive...
This volume offers a rich and accessible introduction to contemporary research on Buddhist ethical thought for interested students and scholars, yet also offers chapters taking up more technical philosophical and textual topics. A Mirror is For Reflection offers a snapshot of the present state of academic investigation into the nature of Buddhist Ethics, including contributions from many of the leading figures in the academic study of Buddhist philosophy. Over the past decade many scholars have come to think that the project of fitting Buddhist ethical thought into Western...
This volume offers a rich and accessible introduction to contemporary research on Buddhist ethical thought for interested students and scholars, yet a...
The idea that the self is inextricably intertwined with the rest of the world-the "oneness hypothesis"-can be found in many of the world's philosophical and religious traditions. This anthology explores the oneness hypothesis through East Asian and Western thought as well as sociology, evolutionary theory, and cognitive neuroscience.
The idea that the self is inextricably intertwined with the rest of the world-the "oneness hypothesis"-can be found in many of the world's philosophic...
