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Human Nature

by Arthur Schopenhauer

Schopenhauer believed in the supremacy of will over intellect, and he wrote extensively on the motivations behind actions. These six essays, drawn from Parerga and posthumously published works, include observations on government, free will and fatalism, character, moral instinct, and ethics. They reflect the author's wide range of interests and offer an accessible approach to his philosophy.

Human Nature & Jewish Thought: Judaism's Case for Why Persons Matter

by Alan L. Mittleman

This book explores one of the great questions of our time: How can we preserve our sense of what it means to be a person while at the same time accepting what science tells us to be true--namely, that human nature is continuous with the rest of nature? What, in other words, does it mean to be a person in a world of things? Alan Mittleman shows how the Jewish tradition provides rich ways of understanding human nature and personhood that preserve human dignity and distinction in a world of neuroscience, evolutionary biology, biotechnology, and pervasive scientism. These ancient resources can speak to Jewish, non-Jewish, and secular readers alike.Science may tell us what we are, Mittleman says, but it cannot tell us who we are, how we should live, or why we matter. Traditional Jewish thought, in open-minded dialogue with contemporary scientific perspectives, can help us answer these questions. Mittleman shows how, using sources ranging across the Jewish tradition, from the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud to more than a millennium of Jewish philosophy. Among the many subjects the book addresses are sexuality, birth and death, violence and evil, moral agency, and politics and economics. Throughout, Mittleman demonstrates how Jewish tradition brings new perspectives to--and challenges many current assumptions about--these central aspects of human nature.A study of human nature in Jewish thought and an original contribution to Jewish philosophy, this is a book for anyone interested in what it means to be human in a scientific age.

Human Nature (Elements in the Philosophy of Biology)

by Grant Ramsey

Human nature is frequently evoked to characterize our species and describe how it differs from others. But how should we understand this concept? What is the nature of a species? Some take our nature to be an essence and argue that because humans lack an essence, they also lack a nature. Others argue for non-essentialist ways of understanding human nature, which usually aim to provide criteria for sorting human traits into one of two bins, the one belonging to our nature and the other outside our nature. This Element argues that both the essentialist and trait bin approaches are misguided. Instead, the author develops a trait cluster account of human nature, which holds that human nature is based on the distribution of our traits over our (actual and possible) life histories. One benefit of this account is that it aligns human nature with the human sciences, rendering the central concern of the human sciences to be the study of human nature. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Human Nature After Darwin: A Philosophical Introduction

by Janet Radcliffe Richards

Human Nature After Darwin is an original investigation of the implications of Darwinism for our understanding of ourselves and our situation. It casts new light on current Darwinian controversies, also providing an introduction to philosophical reasoning and a range of philosophical problems.Janet Radcliffe Richards claims that many current battles about Darwinism are based on mistaken assumptions about the implications of the rival views. Her analysis of these implications provides a much-needed guide to the fundamentals of Darwinism and the so-called Darwin wars, as well as providing a set of philosophical techniques relevant to wide areas of moral and political debate.The lucid presentation makes the book an ideal introduction to both philosophy and Darwinism as well as a substantive contribution to topics of intense current controversy. It will be of interest to students of philosophy, science and the social sciences, and critical thinking.

Human Nature And Conduct

by John Dewey John Capps

In Human Nature and Conduct, the philosopher John Dewey looks at the connection between human nature and morality. While some people believe that we are naturally good, others believe that we are naturally evil. Likewise, while some people believe that morality is all relative, others believe that moral laws are as universal as laws of nature. In these twenty-six succinct chapters Dewey argues that morality is not so simple. He claims that morality depends on both individual people and societies, on both nature and nurture, and on a complex interaction between biological impulses, social customs, and human intelligence. He argues against those who believe morality depends on the will of the majority, those who believe it depends on the will of God and, most of all, those who believe the purpose of morality is to protect us from our own instincts. In Human Nature and Conduct Dewey gives us a new perspective on morality.

Human Nature As Capacity

by Nigel Rapport

What is it to be human? What are our specifically human attributes, our capacities and liabilities? Such questions gave birth to anthropology as an Enlightenment science. This book argues that it is again appropriate to bring "the human" to the fore, to reclaim the singularity of the word as central to the anthropological endeavor, not on the basis of the substance of a human nature - "To be human is to act like this and react like this, to feel this and want this" - but in terms of species-wide capacities: capabilities for action and imagination, liabilities for suffering and cruelty. The contributors approach "the human" with an awareness of these complexities and particularities, rendering this volume unique in its ability to build on anthropology's ethnographic expertise.

Human Nature and other Sermons

by Joseph Butler

Joseph Butler was an English bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher. He was born in Wantage in the English county of Berkshire. He is known, among other things, for his critique of Thomas Hobbes's egoism and John Locke's theory of personal identity. During his life and after his death, Butler influenced many philosophers, including David Hume, Thomas Reid, and Adam Smith.

Human Nature in Early Franciscan Thought: Philosophical Background and Theological Significance

by Lydia Schumacher

In this book, Lydia Schumacher challenges the common assumption that early Franciscan thought simply reiterates the longstanding tradition of Augustine. She demonstrates how scholars from this tradition incorporated the work of Islamic and Jewish philosophers, whose works had recently been translated from Arabic, with a view to developing a unique approach to questions of human nature. These questions pertain to perennial philosophical concerns about the relationship between the body and the soul, the work of human cognition and sensation, and the power of free will. By highlighting the Arabic sources of early Franciscan views on these matters, Schumacher illustrates how scholars working in the early thirteenth century anticipated later developments in Franciscan thought which have often been described as novel or unprecedented. Above all, her study demonstrates that the early Franciscan philosophy of human nature was formulated with a view to bolstering the order's specific theological and religious ideals.

Human Nature, Mind and the Self in Adam Smith's Moral Philosophy: What Does it Mean to Be Human?

by Riccardo Bonfiglioli

This book investigates the problematisation in Adam Smith's moral philosophy of a classical question: what makes us human beings from a moral standpoint? To do this, Riccardo Bonfiglioli explores the relationship between the concepts of ‘human nature’, ‘mind’ and ‘the self’ in order to reconstruct Smith’s theory of subjectivity. After providing a systematic reconstruction of Adam Smith’s conceptions of ‘human nature’ , ‘mind’ and ‘the self’ – exploring some aspects of Smith’s philosophy (nature, philosophy of history, sympathy and imagination) and their empirical expressions (education, conduct and character) – Bonfiglioli argues that, in Adam Smith’s work, the meaning of ‘moral human beings’ would depend on the human being’s effort to live in harmony with oneself and the others. According to Bonfiglioli, in Smith’s moral theory, this ‘harmony with oneself and the others’ would be achieved in relation to a certain kind of awareness that can be possible when human beings try to judge the conduct and try to act according to the impartial spectator. Specifically, this impartial spectator is reinterpreted by the author in the light of the concept of immediacy.

Human Nature: A Blueprint for Managing the Earth-By People, for People

by James S. Trefil

Trefil, a leading scientist, is certainly qualified to tackle the controversial, timely topic of how humans ought to affect the planet they live on. He argues that from the dawn of an agricultural society, man has always engineered nature to suit his needs. And because we're the only form of life with the ability to move mountains (as much literally as metaphorically), there's no rational reason not to manage the environment

Human Nature: A Reader

by Joel J. Kupperman

This anthology provides a set of distinctive, influential views that explore the mysteries of human nature from a variety of perspectives. It can be read on its own, or in conjunction with Joel Kupperman's text, Theories of Human Nature.

Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet

by Kate Marvel

A captivating exploration of climate change that uses nine different emotions to better understand the science, history, and future of our evolving planetScientist Kate Marvel has seen the world end before, sometimes several times a day. In the computer models she uses to study climate change, it’s easy to simulate rising temperatures, catastrophic outcomes, and bleak futures. But climate change isn’t just happening in those models. It’s happening here, to the only good planet in the universe. It’s happening to us. And she has feelings about that. Human Nature is a deeply felt inquiry into our rapidly changing Earth. In each chapter, Marvel uses a different emotion to explore the science and stories behind climate change. As expected, there is anger, fear, and grief—but also wonder, hope, and love. With her singular voice, Marvel takes us on a soaring journey, one filled with mythology, physics, witchcraft, bad movies, volcanoes, Roman emperors, sequoia groves, and the many small miracles of nature we usually take for granted.Hopeful, heartbreaking, and surprisingly funny, Human Nature is a vital, wondrous exploration of how it feels to live in a changing world.Human Nature is a biography of the Earth in nine emotions:WonderAngerGuiltFearGriefSurprisePrideHopeLove

Human Nature: The Categorial Framework

by P. M. Hacker

This major new study by one of the most penetrating and persistent critics of philosophical and scientific orthodoxy, returns to Aristotle in order to examine the salient categories in terms of which we think about ourselves and our nature, and the distinctive forms of explanation we invoke to render ourselves intelligible to ourselves. The culmination of 40 years of thought on the philosophy of mind and the nature of the mankind Written by one of the world’s leading philosophers, the co-author of the monumental 4 volume Analytical Commentary on the Philosophical Investigations (Blackwell Publishing, 1980-2004) Uses broad categories, such as substance, causation, agency and power to examine how we think about ourselves and our nature Platonic and Aristotelian conceptions of human nature are sketched and contrasted Individual chapters clarify and provide an historical overview of a specific concept, then link the concept to ideas contained in other chapters

Human Predicaments: And What to Do about Them

by John Kekes

In his latest book, esteemed philosopher John Kekes draws on anthropology, history, and literature in order to help us cope with the common predicaments that plague us as we try to take control of our lives. In each chapter he offers fascinating new ways of thinking about a particular problem that is fundamental to how we live, such as facing difficult choices, uncontrollable contingencies, complex evaluations, the failures of justice, the miasma of boredom, and the inescapable hypocrisies of social life. Kekes considers how we might deal with these predicaments by comparing how others in different times and cultures have approached them. He examines what is good, bad, instructive, and dangerous in the sexually charged politics of the Shilluk, the Hindu caste system, Balinese role-morality, the religious passion of Cortes and Simone Weil, the fate of Colonel Hiromichi Yahara during and after the battle for Okinawa, the ritual human sacrifices of the Aztecs, and the tragedies to which innocence may lead. In doing so, he shakes us out of our deep-seated ways of thinking, enlarging our understanding of the possibilities available to us as we struggle with the problems that stand in the way of how we want to live. The result is a highly interesting journey through time and space that illuminates and helps us cope with some of the most basic predicaments we all face as human beings.

Human Reasoning (Elements in Philosophy of Mind)

by David E Over Jonathan St Evans

This Element is on new developments in the psychology of reasoning that raise or address philosophical questions. In traditional studies in the psychology of reasoning, the focus was on inference from arbitrary assumptions and not at all from beliefs, and classical binary logic was presupposed as the only standard for human reasoning. But recently a new Bayesian paradigm has emerged in the discipline. This views ordinary human reasoning as mostly inferring probabilistic conclusions from degrees of beliefs, or from hypothetical premises relevant to a purpose at hand, and as often about revising or updating degrees of belief. This Element also covers new formulations of dual-process theories of the mind, stating that there are two types of mental processing, one rapid and intuitive and shared with other animals, and the other slow and reflective and more characteristic of human beings. The final topic covered is the new developments and rationality.

Human Rights (Key Ideas)

by Anthony Woodiwiss

Are human rights part of the problem or part of the solution in the current 'clash of civilizations'? Drawing on a hitherto neglected body of work in classical social theory and combining it with ideas derived from Barrington Moore, Norbert Elias and Michel Foucault, Woodiwiss poses and answers the questions: How did human rights become entangled with power relations? How might the nature of this entanglement be altered so that human rights better serve the global majority? In answering these questions, he explains how and why rights discourse developed in such distinctive ways in four key locations: Britain, the United States, Japan and in the UN. On this basis he provides, for the first time, a general sociological account of the development of international human rights discourse, which represents a striking challenge to current thinking and policy.

Human Rights Education in China: Perspectives, Policies and Practices

by Weihong Liang

The book provides new research highlighting perspectives, perceptions, and practices regarding human rights and human rights education in China. It traces the emergence and evolution of the human rights conception and human rights education from comparative perspectives. China’s deeply embedded philosophical and cultural traditions shed light on its ideas of human rights and human rights education. The efforts to construct an independent and strong nation-state since the mid-to-late nineteenth century fashioned the Chinese thinking of rights and citizenship, and the reciprocal relation between the individual and community/state.With the help of collected data, the book unpacks that the goal-making and content-selection of human rights education in China rely heavily on the provisions given by central authorities; however, the practices have different facets depends on how the people perceive and respond those requirements in the school and classroom contexts. The book concludes by explaining the human rights education in China as a socialization project for citizenship-making, and suggests that China’s doctrine on human rights and human rights education is closely associated with cultural relativization and social construction.Though China is just beginning to develop human rights education in its education systems, this study suggests possible direction for future research. How to live with human rights should be included further in schooling, especially how to infuse human rights education into all aspects of school day-to-day life.

Human Rights Law and the Marginalized Other

by William Paul Simmons

This is a groundbreaking application of contemporary philosophy to human rights law that proposes several significant innovations for the progressive development of human rights. Drawing on the works of prominent 'philosophers of the Other' including Emmanuel Levinas, Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak, Judith Butler, and most centrally the Argentine philosopher of liberation Enrique Dussel, this book develops an ethics based on concrete face-to-face relationships with the Marginalized Other. It proposes that this ethics should inspire a human rights law that is grounded in transcendental justice and framed from the perspective of marginalized groups. Such law would continuously deconstruct the original violence found in all human rights treaties and tribunals and promote preferential treatment for the marginalized. It would be especially attentive to such issues as access to justice, voice, representation, agency, and responsibility. This approach differs markedly from more conventional theories of human rights that prioritize the autonomy of the ego, state sovereignty, democracy, and/or equality.

Human Rights Struggles in Twentieth-century France: The League of the Rights of Man and Causes Célèbres (Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements)

by Max Likin

This book provides an introduction to human rights controversies in twentieth-century France, from the Dreyfus Affair at the beginning of the century, to the arguments over women and immigrants’ rights at its end. Using the Ligue des Droits de L’Homme (LDH) - or the League of the Rights of Man - as a narrative thread for this chronological study, the book tracks the gradual expansion of human rights in France in the wake of the two world wars, the Algerian quagmire and decolonisation more generally. Examining the capital role of the LDH whilst also highlighting the role of individuals and key activists, the book helps us to contextualise the quandaries faced by unseen minorities, particularly colonial subjects and women. The analysis also demonstrates the influence of French human rights activism on key international documents of human rights law, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The LDH occupies a central place in French justice debates and is therefore an ideal template to analyse the rising influence of humanitarianism and crimes against humanity in French causes célèbres from the 1970s onwards. However, the author goes further to look beyond the LDH and even France itself, offering wide-ranging surveys of dominant rights issues across Europe at any given period. Drawing on extensive research and interviews with key members of the LDH, this book provides an accessible overview of human rights struggles in twentieth-century France.

Human Rights and Chinese Thought: A Cross-Cultural Inquiry

by Stephen C. Angle

What should we make of claims by members of other groups who have moralities different from our own? Human Rights in Chinese Thought gives an extended answer to this question in the first study of its kind. It integrates a full account of the development of Chinese rights discourse with philosophical consideration of how various communities should respond to contemporary Chinese claims about the uniqueness of their human rights concepts. The book elaborates a plausible kind of moral pluralism and demonstrates that Chinese ideas of human rights do indeed have distinctive characteristics, but it nonetheless argues for the importance and promise of cross-cultural moral engagement.

Human Rights and Global Diversity

by R. Paul Churchill

This accessible text defends human rights as truly universal for all persons globally, while respecting the importance of plurality and cultural diversity. It is unique, as well, in discussing cross-cultural negotiations regarding human rights. The book shows that there is no inherent contradiction between human rights norms and social and cultural values, practices, and forms of life worthy of preservation.

Human Rights and Humanity’s Rights During Year Three of the French Revolution

by Eduardo Baker

This book explores the constitutional debates of the Year 3 of the French Revolution (also known as Year 1 of the French Republic) and the drafts for the Declaration and the Constitution of 1793. It presents the revolutionaries’ distinct view on human rights and the rights of the peoples, as well as their philosophical underpinnings. After discussing how contemporary legal history and theory, and political philosophy approached the revolutionary period, the book tackles the main topics covered during the debates and proposals. Starting with the issue of external relations and the sovereignty of the people and ending with natural rights and Republicanism, this book shows how apparently technical questions (such as what procedure should be implemented to declare a war) are intertwined with philosophical reflections on rights and with problems that were urgent at the time.

Human Rights and Memory (Essays on Human Rights #5)

by Daniel Levy Natan Sznaider

Memories of historical events like the Holocaust have played a key role in the internationalization of human rights. Their importance lies in their ability to bridge the universal and the particular—the universality of human values and the particularity of memories rooted in local human experiences. In Human Rights and Memory, Levy and Sznaider trace the growth of human rights discourse since World War II and interpret its deployment of memories as a new form of cosmopolitanism, exemplifying a dynamic through which global concerns become part of local experiences, and vice versa.

Human Rights and Military Intervention (Routledge Revivals)

by Richard Norman Alexander Moseley

This title was first published in 2002. Was the bombing of Belgrade morally justified as an attempt to halt 'ethnic cleansing' in Kosovo'? Should Western states have tried to prevent the slaughter in Rwanda? Are there, indeed, genuinely universal 'human rights' which could justify such interventions, or is the upholding of such rights simply the imposition of culturally specific values on other cultures? Is national sovereignty a necessary and legitimate impediment to intervention, or are we seeing the emergence of a 'new international order' in which national boundaries are less significant? These and related ethical and political questions are addressed from a wide variety of perspectives by the contributors to this book. The answers presented form important reading for students and researchers in philosophy and in international relations, and for anyone interested in the difficult questions about whether and when other states may intervene in a country's internal affairs in order to uphold human rights.

Human Rights and Radical Social Transformation: Futurity, Alterity, Power

by Kathryn McNeilly

Against the recent backdrop of sociopolitical crisis, radical thinking and activism to challenge the oppressive operation of power has increased. Such thinkers and activists have aimed for radical social transformation in the sense of challenging dominant ways of viewing the world, including the neoliberal illusion of improving the welfare of all while advancing the interests of only some. However, a question mark has remained over the utility of human rights in this activity and the capability of rights to challenge, as opposed to reinforce, discourses such as liberalism, capitalism, internationalism and statism. It is at this point that the present work aims to intervene. Drawing upon critical legal theory, radical democratic thinking and feminist perspectives, Human Rights and Radical Social Transformation seeks to reassess the radical possibilities for human rights and explore how rights may be re-engaged as a tool to facilitate radical social change via the concept of ‘human rights to come’. This idea proposes a reconceptualisation of human rights in theory and practice which foregrounds human rights as inherently futural and capable of sustaining a critical relation to power and alterity in radical politics.

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