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Naturalism and the Human Condition: Against Scientism
by Frederick A. OlafsonNaturalism and the Human Condition is a compelling account of why naturalism, or the 'scientific world-view' cannot provide a full account of who and what we are as human beings.Drawing on sources including Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Husserl and Sartre, Olafson exposes the limits of naturalism and stresses the importance of serious philosophical investigation of human nature.
Naturalism, Human Flourishing, and Asian Philosophy: Owen Flanagan and Beyond (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy)
by Bongrae SeokNaturalism, Human Flourishing, and Asian Philosophy: Owen Flanagan and Beyond is an edited volume of philosophical essays focusing on Owen Flanagan’s naturalized comparative philosophy and moral psychology of human flourishing. Flanagan is a philosopher well-known for his naturalized approach to philosophical issues such as meaning, physicalism, causation, and consciousness in the analytic school of Western philosophy. Recently, he develops his philosophical interest in Asian philosophy and discusses diverse philosophical issues of human flourishing, Buddhism and Confucianism from comparative viewpoints. The current volume discusses his philosophy of human flourishing and his naturalized approaches to Buddhism and Confucianism. The volume consists of five sections with eleven chapters written by leading experts in the fields of philosophy, religion, and psychology. The first section is an introduction to Flanagan’s philosophy. The introductory chapter provides a general overview of Flanagan’s philosophy, i.e., his philosophy of naturalization, comparative approach to human flourishing, and detailed summaries of the following chapters. In the second section, the three chapters discuss Flanagan’s naturalized eudaimonics of human flourishing. The third section discusses Flanagan’s naturalized Buddhism. The fourth section analyzes Flanagan’s interpretation of Confucian philosophy (specifically Mencius’s moral sprouts), from the viewpoint of moral modularity and human flourishing. The fifth section is Flanagan’s responses to the comments and criticisms developed in this volume.
Naturalism in the Philosophy of Health
by Élodie GirouxIna series of papers published in the 1970s, Christopher Boorse proposed anaturalist theory of health, mainly based on a value-free concept of'biological function', a concept of 'reference class' and the notion of'statistical normality'. His theory has profoundly shaped the philosophicaldebates on the concepts of health and disease. It could even be said that thenumerous criticisms of his 'biostatistical theory' are at the centre ofwhat is usually referred to as the debate between 'normativists' and'naturalists'. Today, the predominant naturalist theory of health is stillBoorse's biostatistical theory. Thisvolume offers the first comprehensive review and critical assessment of thenature and status of naturalism in the philosophy of health. It exploresthe notion of biological normativity and its relevance for the philosophy ofhealth, and it analyses the implications of the philosophical theories ofhealth for healthcare and the debate on health enhancement. Inthe first section, several contributions identify the kind of 'naturalism' thebiostatistical theory belongs to and offer further criticisms or possiblemodifications, such as the concept of function that is required by this theory,and whether a comparativist approach to health is more relevant than a non-comparativistone. The second section explores natural or biological 'normativity' and somepossible accounts of health that could be based on this concept. The third andfinal section focuses on the implications of naturalism in healthcare. 'Goalsof Medicine' is the first paper in which Christopher Boorse ventured toward analysingthe implication of his biostatistical theory of health on the practice ofmedicine, the difficult issue of the goals of medicine and the boundary betweentreating and enhancing. Other papers in this section critically evaluateBoorse's account and analyse the importance of a positive concept of health.
Naturalism, Realism, and Normativity
by Hilary PutnamHilary Putnam's writings have shaped fields from epistemology to ethics, metaphysics to the philosophy of physics, the philosophy of mathematics to the philosophy of mind. This volume reflects his latest thinking on how to articulate a theory of naturalism which acknowledges that normative phenomena form an ineluctable part of human experience.
The Naturalistic Fallacy (Classic Philosophical Arguments)
by Neil SinclairAt the turn of the twentieth century, G. E. Moore contemptuously dismissed most previous 'ethical systems' for committing the 'Naturalistic Fallacy'. This fallacy - which has been variously understood, but has almost always been seen as something to avoid - was perhaps the greatest structuring force on subsequent ethical theorising. To a large extent, to understand the Fallacy is to understand contemporary ethics. This volume aims to provide that understanding. Its thematic chapters - written by a range of distinguished contributors - introduce the history, text and philosophy behind Moore's charge of fallacy and its supporting 'open question' argument. They detail how the fallacy influenced multiple traditions in ethics (including evolutionary, religious and naturalistic approaches), its connections to supposed dichotomies between 'is'/'ought' and facts/values, and its continuing relevance to our understanding of normativity. Together, the chapters provide a historical and opinionated introduction to contemporary ethics that will be essential for students, teachers and researchers.
Naturalistic Inquiry
by Yvonna S. Lincoln Egon G. GubaThis text explores qualitative inquiry as an alternative to scientific knowing.
Naturalization of the Soul: Self and Personal Identity in the Eighteenth Century (Routledge Studies in Eighteenth-Century Philosophy #Vol. 1)
by John Barresi Raymond MartinNaturalization of the Soul charts the development of the concepts of soul and self in Western thought, from Plato to the present. It fills an important gap in intellectual history by being the first book to emphasize the enormous intellectual transformation in the eighteenth century, when the religious 'soul' was replaced first by a philosophical 'self' and then by a scientific 'mind'. The authors show that many supposedly contemporary theories of the self were actually discussed in the eighteenth century, and recognize the status of William Hazlitt as one of the most important Personal Identity theorists of the British Enlightenment, for his direct relevance to contemporary thinking.Now available in paperback, Naturaliazation of the Soul is essential reading for anyone interested in the issues at the core of the Western philosophical tradition.
Naturalized Aesthetics: A Scientific Framework for the Philosophy of Art
by Richard A. RichardsThis book bridges the gap between the many insights into art provided by research in evolutionary theory, psychology and neuroscience and those enduring normative issues best addressed by philosophy. The sciences have helped us understand how art functions, our art preferences, and the neurological systems underlying our engagement with art. But we continue to rely on philosophy to tell us what is truly good in art, how we should engage with art, and the conceptual basis for this engagement. Naturalized Aesthetics: A Scientific Framework for the Philosophy of Art integrates a systematic and comprehensive naturalism, grounded in the sciences, with an "ecology" of art. It shows how the environments in which we make and experience art – our "engineered art niches" – affect the practice and experience of art, and generate normativity – the goods and the shoulds - in our engagement with art. There are, in effect, two "streams" of normativity, according to this book: a niche-dependent, social, impersonal and objective stream, and a niche-independent, individual, personal and subjective stream. Recognition of these two streams allows us to make progress in long-standing and unresolved philosophical disputes about how to interpret, evaluate, and conceive art.Key Features: Provides a structured and critical introduction to the scientific accounts of art based on evolutionary thinking, psychology and neuroscience. Develops an "ecology" of art based on the insight that we engage with art in engineered niches. Presents a naturalistic account of normativity based on the recognition of two streams: a niche-dependent, social, impersonal and objective stream; and a niche-independent, individual, personal and subjective stream. Serves as an introduction and critical analysis of the debates about the interpretation, evaluation and definitions of art.
Naturalized Bioethics: Toward Responsible Knowing and Practice
by Hilde Lindemann Marian Verkerk Margaret Urban WalkerNaturalized Bioethics represents a revolutionary change in how health care ethics is practiced. It calls for bioethicists to give up their dependence on utilitarianism and other ideal moral theories and instead to move toward a self-reflexive, socially inquisitive, politically critical, and inclusive ethics. Wary of idealizations that bypass social realities, the naturalism in ethics that is developed in this volume is empirically nourished and acutely aware that ethical theory is the practice of particular people in particular times, places, cultures, and professional environments. The essays in this collection examine the variety of embodied experiences of individual people. They situate the bioethicist within the clinical or research context, take seriously the web of relationships in which all human beings are nested, and explore a number of the many different kinds of power relations that inform health care encounters. Naturalized Bioethics aims to help bioethicists, doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, disability studies scholars, medical researchers, and other health professionals address the ethical issues surrounding health care.
Naturalizing Epistemic Virtue
by Abrol Fairweather Owen FlanaganAn epistemic virtue is a personal quality conducive to the discovery of truth, the avoidance of error, or some other intellectually valuable goal. Current work in epistemology is increasingly value-driven, but this volume presents the first collection of essays to explore whether virtue epistemology can also be naturalistic, in the philosophical definition meaning 'methodologically continuous with science'. The essays examine the empirical research in psychology on cognitive abilities and personal dispositions, meta-epistemic semantic accounts of virtue theoretic norms, the role of emotion in knowledge, 'ought-implies can' constraints, empirically and metaphysically grounded accounts of 'proper functioning', and even applied virtue epistemology in relation to education. Naturalizing Epistemic Virtue addresses many core issues in contemporary epistemology, presents new opportunities for work on epistemic abilities, epistemic virtues and cognitive character, and will be of great interest to those studying virtue ethics and epistemology.
Naturalizing God?: A Critical Evaluation of Religious Naturalism
by Mikael LeidenhagCan nature be considered a religious object? Religious naturalists answer yes, as they seek to carve out a middle path between supernaturalism and atheistic secularism. In this book, Mikael Leidenhag critically examines the religious proposals, philosophical commitments, and ecological ambitions of key religious naturalists, including Willem B. Drees, Charley D. Hardwick, Donald Crosby, Ursula Goodenough, Stuart Kauffman, Gordon Kaufman, Karl Peters, and Loyal Rue. Leidenhag argues that contemporary religious naturalism faces several problems, both with regard to its understanding of naturalism and the ways in which it seeks to uphold a religious conception of reality. He evaluates possible routes for moving forward, considering naturalistic and theistic proposals. He also analyzes the philosophical thesis of panpsychism, the idea that mind is a pervasive feature of the universe and reaches down to the fundamental levels of reality. The author concludes that panpsychism offers the most promising framework against which to understand the metaphysics and eco-ethical ambitions of religious naturalism.
Naturalizing Heidegger: His Confrontation with Nietzsche, His Contributions to Environmental Philosophy (SUNY series in Environmental Philosophy and Ethics)
by David E. StoreyIn Naturalizing Heidegger, David E. Storey proposes a new interpretation of Heidegger's importance for environmental philosophy, finding in the development of his thought from the early 1920s to his later work in the 1940s the groundwork for a naturalistic ontology of life. Primarily drawing on Heidegger's engagement with Nietzsche, but also on his readings of Aristotle and the biologist Jakob von Uexküll, Storey focuses on his critique of the nihilism at the heart of modernity, and his conception of the intentionality of organisms and their relation to their environments. From these ideas, a vision of nature emerges that recognizes the intrinsic value of all living things and their kinship with one another, and which anticipates later approaches in the philosophy of nature, such as Hans Jonas's phenomenology of life and Evan Thompson's contemporary attempt to naturalize phenomenology.
Naturalizing Logico-Mathematical Knowledge: Approaches from Philosophy, Psychology and Cognitive Science (Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Mathematics and Physics)
by Sorin BanguThis book is meant as a part of the larger contemporary philosophical project of naturalizing logico-mathematical knowledge, and addresses the key question that motivates most of the work in this field: What is philosophically relevant about the nature of logico-mathematical knowledge in recent research in psychology and cognitive science? The question about this distinctive kind of knowledge is rooted in Plato’s dialogues, and virtually all major philosophers have expressed interest in it. The essays in this collection tackle this important philosophical query from the perspective of the modern sciences of cognition, namely cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Naturalizing Logico-Mathematical Knowledge contributes to consolidating a new, emerging direction in the philosophy of mathematics, which, while keeping the traditional concerns of this sub-discipline in sight, aims to engage with them in a scientifically-informed manner. A subsequent aim is to signal the philosophers’ willingness to enter into a fruitful dialogue with the community of cognitive scientists and psychologists by examining their methods and interpretive strategies.
Naturally Minded: Mental Causation, Virtual Machines, and Maps (New Directions in Philosophy and Cognitive Science)
by Simon BowesThis book is an empirically informed investigation of the philosophical problem of mental causation, and a philosophical investigation of the status of cognitive scientific generalisations. If there are mental causes which can be classified in a way useful for predicting and explaining, then they are natural kinds. First. we develop an account of natural kinds that accommodates the cognitive. Second, we show how statements using these are not reducible to statements about physical kinds, involving biological and social facts. Finally, Virtual Machine Functionalism is defended as the correct account of the relationship between cognition and the material world.
Nature (Penguin Great Ideas)
by Ralph EmersonOriginally published anonymously, Nature was the first modern essay to recommend the appreciation of the outdoors as an all-encompassing positive force. Emerson’s writings were recognized as uniquely American in style and content, and launched the idea of going for a walk as a new way of looking at the world. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives – and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
Nature and Culture: Ethical Thought in the French Enlightenment
by Lester G. CrockerOriginally published in 1963. Perhaps the most generative ethical question of eighteenth-century France was how to live a virtuous and happy life at the same time. During the Age of Enlightenment, Christianity fell out of vogue as the dominant and authoritative moral code. In place of Christianity's emphasis on sin and redemption in light of a supposed afterlife, present happiness became recognized as an appropriate end goal among French Enlightenment thinkers. French intellectuals struggled to find equilibrium between nature (a person's individual goals and needs) and culture (the political, economic, and social organization of humans for a collective good). Enlightenment discourse generated a unique cultural moment in which thinkers addressed the problems of humans' moral coexistence through the dichotomy of nature and culture. Lester Crocker addresses these questions in an overview of ethical thought in eighteenth-century France.
Nature and Divinity in Plato's Timaeus
by Sarah BroadiePlato's Timaeus is one of the most influential and challenging works of ancient philosophy to have come down to us. Sarah Broadie's rich and compelling study proposes new interpretations of major elements of the Timaeus, including the separate Demiurge, the cosmic 'beginning', the 'second mixing', the Receptacle and the Atlantis story. Broadie shows how Plato deploys the mythic themes of the Timaeus to convey fundamental philosophical insights and examines the profoundly differing methods of interpretation which have been brought to bear on the work. Her book is for everyone interested in Ancient Greek philosophy, cosmology and mythology, whether classicists, philosophers, historians of ideas or historians of science. It offers new findings to scholars familiar with the material, but it is also a clear and reliable resource for anyone coming to it for the first time.
Nature and Experience in the Culture of Delusion: How Industrial Society Lost Touch with Reality
by David W. KidnerIndustrialism has alienated us from nature, disconnected us from our own embodiment, and blinded us to the character of the technological society we have ourselves have produced. This book brings together ideas and research from both social and natural sciences to throw light on the hidden dimensions of industrial life, showing how the emerging global economic system has dissolved our embodied subjectivity into industrial processes. The symbolic abilities that have allowed us to dominate all other creatures have now entrapped us within systems that we do not understand and have little control over, making us as vulnerable to the extension of economic and technological ideologies as our ancestors were to the natural threats that surrounded them. If we are to regain our humanity and integrity, the essential first step, outlined in this book, is to recognise and challenge the sources of our own powerlessness.
The Nature and Future of Philosophy (Columbia Themes in Philosophy)
by Michael DummettPhilosophy is a discipline that makes no observations, conducts no experiments, and needs no input from experience. It is an armchair subject, requiring only thought. Yet that thought can advance knowledge in unexpected directions, not only through the discovery of new facts but also through the enhancement of what we already know. Philosophy can clarify our vision of the world and provide exciting ways to interpret it.Of course, philosophy's unified purpose hasn't kept the discipline from splintering into warring camps. Departments all over the world are divided among analytical and continental schools, Heidegger, Hegel, and other major thinkers, challenging the growth of the discipline and obscuring its relevance and intent. Having spent decades teaching in American, Asian, African, and European universities, Michael Dummett has felt firsthand the fractured state of contemporary practice and the urgent need for reconciliation. Setting forth a proposal for renewal and reengagement, Dummett begins with the nature of philosophical inquiry as it has developed for centuries, especially its exceptional openness and perspective-which has, ironically, led to our present crisis. He discusses philosophy in relation to science, religion, morality, language, and meaning and recommends avenues for healing around a renewed investigation of mind, language, and thought. Employing his trademark frankness and accessibility, Dummett asks philosophers to resolve theoretical difference and reclaim the vital work of their practice.
The Nature and Future of Philosophy
by Michael DummettPhilosophy is a discipline that makes no observations, conducts no experiments, and needs no input from experience. It is an armchair subject, requiring only thought. Yet that thought can advance knowledge in unexpected directions, not only through the discovery of new facts but also through the enhancement of what we already know. Philosophy can clarify our vision of the world and provide exciting ways to interpret it. Of course, philosophy's unified purpose hasn't kept the discipline from splintering into warring camps. Departments all over the world are divided among analytical and continental schools, Heidegger, Hegel, and other major thinkers, challenging the growth of the discipline and obscuring its relevance and intent. Having spent decades teaching in American, Asian, African, and European universities, Michael Dummett has felt firsthand the fractured state of contemporary practice and the urgent need for reconciliation. Setting forth a proposal for renewal and reengagement, Dummett begins with the nature of philosophical inquiry as it has developed for centuries, especially its exceptional openness and perspective-which has, ironically, led to our present crisis. He discusses philosophy in relation to science, religion, morality, language, and meaning and recommends avenues for healing around a renewed investigation of mind, language, and thought. Employing his trademark frankness and accessibility, Dummett asks philosophers to resolve theoretical difference and reclaim the vital work of their practice.
Nature and History in American Political Development: A Debate (Alexis De Tocqueville Lectures in American Politics #1)
by Theda Skocpol Jack Rakove Nancy Rosenblum James Ceaser Rogers SmithIn this inaugural volume of the Alexis de Tocqueville Lectures, James Ceaser traces the way certain "foundational" ideas—including nature, history, and religion—have been understood and used over the course of American history. Ceaser treats these ideas as elements of political discourse that provide the ground for other political ideas, such as liberty or equality. Three critical commentators challenge Ceaser's arguments, and a spirited debate about large and enduring questions in American politics ensues.
Nature and Landscape: An Introduction to Environmental Aesthetics
by Allen CarlsonThe roots of environmental aesthetics reach back to the ideas of eighteenth-century thinkers who found nature an ideal source of aesthetic experience. Today, having blossomed into a significant subfield of aesthetics, environmental aesthetics studies and encourages the appreciation of not just natural environments but also human-made and human-modified landscapes. Nature and Landscape is an important introduction to this rapidly growing area of aesthetic understanding and appreciation. Allen Carlson begins by tracing the development of the field's historical background, and then surveys contemporary positions on the aesthetics of nature, such as scientific cognitivism, which holds that certain kinds of scientific knowledge are necessary for a full appreciation of natural environments. Carlson next turns to environments that have been created or changed by humans and the dilemmas that are posed by the appreciation of such landscapes. He examines how to aesthetically appreciate a variety of urban and rural landscapes and concludes with a discussion of whether there is, in general, a correct way to aesthetically experience the environment.
Nature and Logos: A Whiteheadian Key to Merleau-Ponty's Fundamental Thought
by William S. Hamrick Jan Van der VekenThis is the first booklength account of how Maurice Merleau-Ponty used certain texts by Alfred North Whitehead to develop an ontology based on nature, and how he could have used other Whitehead texts that he did not know in order to complete his last ontology. This account is enriched by several of Merleau-Ponty's unpublished writings not previously available in English, by the first detailed treatment of certain works by F.W.J. Schelling in the course of showing how they exerted a substantial influence on both Merleau-Ponty and Whitehead, and by the first extensive discussion of Merleau-Ponty's interest in the Stoics's notion of the twofold logos—the logos endiathetos and the logos proforikos. This book provides a thorough exploration of the consonance between these two philosophers in their mutual desire to overcome various bifurcations of nature, and of nature from spirit, that continued to haunt philosophy and science since the 17th-century.
Nature and Nationalism: Right-wing Ecology and the Politics of Identity in Germany
by Jonathan OlsenIn this new edition of his now classic 1999 book, Jonathan Olsen explores the relationship between the far right and the environment, or what he terms “right-wing ecology.” Arguing that radical environmentalism is not exclusively a domain of the left, Olsen shows how many of Germany's far right parties and groups ground their ecological ideology in an anti-universalist anthropology which sees human beings as naturally 'rooted' in specific nations and cultural traditions. Pollution in this discourse signifies not only the disruption of the natural world, but the social world as well, thus providing an environmental justification for an anti-immigrant politics which finds resonance outside the specific milieu of the far right. A rigorously theoretical book, Nature and Nationalism challenges our understanding of the deeply ambiguous ways in which 'nature' functions to legitimate a wide variety of political ideas.
Nature and Naturalism in Classical German Philosophy (Routledge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Philosophy)
by Luca Corti Johannes-Georg SchüleinThis book offers the first comprehensive exploration of the relevance of naturalism and theories of nature in Classical German Philosophy. It presents new readings from internationally renowned scholars on Kant, Jacobi, Goethe, the Romantic tradition, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, and Marx that highlight the significance of conceptions of nature and naturalism in Classical German Philosophy for contemporary concerns. The collection presents an inclusive view: it goes beyond the usual restricted focus on single thinkers to encompass the tradition as a whole, prompting dialogue among scholars interested in different authors and areas. It thus illuminates the post-Kantian tradition in a new, wider sense. The chapters also mobilize a productive perspective at the intersection of philosophy and history by combining careful textual and historical analysis with argument-based philosophizing. Overall, the book challenges the stereotypical view that Classical German Philosophy offers at best only an idealistic, one-sided, anachronistic, and theological view of nature. It invites readers to put traditional views in dialogue with current discussions of nature and naturalism. Nature and Naturalism in Classical German Philosophy will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working on Classical German Philosophy, 19th-Century Philosophy, and contemporary perspectives on naturalism.