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Consciousness from a Broad Perspective: A Philosophical and Interdisciplinary Introduction (Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality #6)
by Anders HedmanThis volume offers an introduction to consciousness research within philosophy, psychology and neuroscience, from a philosophical perspective and with an emphasis on the history of ideas and core concepts. The book begins by examining consciousness as a modern mystery. Thereafter, the book introduces philosophy of mind and the mind-body problem, and proceeds to explore psychological, philosophical and neuroscientific approaches to mind and consciousness. The book then presents a discussion of mysterianist views of consciousness in response to what can be perceived as insurmountable scientific challenges to the problem of consciousness. As a response to mysterianist views, the next chapters examine radical approaches to rethinking the problem of consciousness, including externalist approaches. The final two chapters present the author's personal view of the problem of consciousness. Consciousness remains a mystery for contemporary science--a mystery raising many questions. Why does consciousness persist as a mystery? Are we humans not intelligent enough to solve the riddle of consciousness? If we can solve this mystery, what would it take? What research would we need to conduct? Moreover, the mystery of consciousness prompts the larger question of how well the cognitive sciences have actually advanced our understanding of ourselves as human beings. After all, consciousness is not just a minor part of our existence. Without consciousness, we would not be human beings at all. This book aims to increase the accessibility of major ideas in the field of consciousness research and to inspire readers to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the place of consciousness in nature.
Consciousness from Descartes to Ayer
by David BermanThe title is meant to indicate that consciousness is being examined largely within the history of philosophy, and within the period of time from Descartes to Ayer. Investigators aiming to understand consciousness and minds usually try to take account of all individual human minds, so as to have the most data for the most encompassing induction. The problem with that approach is that because of the vastness of the data, its results tend to be vague, lacking the specificity of studies of individuals. On the other hand, the problem with studies of individuals is that they cannot guarantee generality, as the opposing method can. This book's distinctive approach aims at a middle way, getting the best of the two opposing methods by drawing its data from the history of philosophy, especially the history of the great philosophers.
Consciousness in Flesh: An Unapologetic Phenomenological Study
by Yochai AtariaThis book offers an uncompromising and unapologetic phenomenological study of altered states of consciousness in an attempt to understand the structure of human consciousness. Drawing on the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, it sets out to decipher the inextricable link between consciousness, body, and world. This link will be established through the presentation of in-depth phenomenological research conducted with former prisoners of war (POWs) and senior meditators. Focusing on two such disparate groups improves our understanding of the nature of the subjective experience in extreme situations – when our sense of boundary is rigid and we are disconnected both from the body and the world (POWs); and when our sense of boundary is fluid and we feel unified with the world (meditators). Based on empirical-phenomenological research, this book will explain how the body that is from the outset thrown into the intersubjective world shapes the structure of consciousness.
Consciousness in Jung and Patañjali (Research in Analytical Psychology and Jungian Studies)
by Leanne WhitneyThe East-West dialogue increasingly seeks to compare and clarify contrasting views on the nature of consciousness. For the Eastern liberatory models, where a nondual view of consciousness is primary, the challenge lies in articulating how consciousness and the manifold contents of consciousness are singular. Western empirical science, on the other hand, must provide a convincing account of how consciousness arises from matter. By placing the theories of Jung and Patañjali in dialogue with one another, Consciousness in Jung and Patañjali illuminates significant differences between dual and nondual psychological theory and teases apart the essential discernments that theoreticians must make between epistemic states and ontic beliefs. Patañjali’s Classical Yoga, one of the six orthodox Hindu philosophies, is a classic of Eastern and world thought. Patañjali teaches that notions of a separate egoic "I" are little more than forms of mistaken identity that we experience in our attempts to take ownership of consciousness. Carl Jung’s depth psychology, which remains deeply influential to psychologists, religious scholars, and artists alike, argues that ego-consciousness developed out of the unconscious over the course of evolution. By exploring the work of key theoreticians from both schools of thought, particularly those whose ideas are derived from an integration of theory and practice, Whitney explores the extent to which the seemingly irremediable split between Jung and Patañjali’s ontological beliefs can in fact be reconciled. This thorough and insightful work will be essential reading for academics, theoreticians, and postgraduate students in the fields of psychology, philosophy of science, and consciousness studies. It will also appeal to those interested in the East–West psychological and philosophical dialogue.
Consciousness Inside and Out: Phenomenology, Neuroscience, And The Nature Of Experience (Studies in Brain and Mind #6)
by Richard BrownThis volume is product of the third online consciousness conference, held at http://consciousnessonline.com in February and March 2011. Chapters range over epistemological issues in the science and philosophy of perception, what neuroscience can do to help us solve philosophical issues in the philosophy of mind, what the true nature of black and white vision, pain, auditory, olfactory, or multi-modal experiences are, to higher-order theories of consciousness, synesthesia, among others. Each chapter includes a target article, commentaries, and in most cases, a final response from the author. Though wide-ranging all of the papers aim to understand consciousness both from the inside, as we experience it, and from the outside as we encounter it in our science. The Online Consciousness Conference, founded and organized by Richard Brown, is dedicated to the rigorous study of consciousness and mind. The goal is to bring philosophers, scientists, and interested lay persons together in an online venue to promote high-level discussion and exchanging of views, ideas and data related to the scientific and philosophical study of consciousness.
Consciousness Is All There Is: How Understanding and Experiencing Consciousness Will Transform Your Life
by Dr. Tony NaderNEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLERFrom a renowned Vedic scholar, leader of the Maharishi Foundations, and Harvard-trained neuroscientist: a radical new paradigm for understanding Consciousness and finding enlightenment, peace, and fulfillmentDr. Tony Nader, a renowned Vedic scholar and neuroscientist, offers a direct path to peace for ourselves and our world that anyone can obtain—simply by delving into our own Consciousness. Dr. Nader provides the methods, tools, and guidance for connecting with our authentic inner nature and understanding how Consciousness is the essence of all existence, including addressing such fundamental questions as:What is the key to a well-lived, flourishing life in which we can all coexist in peace? Can freedom be compatible with law and order?How can we meet all our challenges as individuals and a society, including the environment, genetic engineering, and the rapid development of artificial intelligence?True wellness is a state of profound clarity, peace, and contentment, resulting from connection with our pure Consciousness. By enlivening our coherence between our Consciousness and the external world, we can find our happiest and highest states of ourselves."Consciousness Is All There Is will open doors of perception for you to a new and profound understanding of life."— Marci Shimoff, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul and Happy for No Reason
Consciousness, Life and the Universe
by Xue FanWhat is consciousness? What is life? What is the universe? This book explores these three interconnected questions, providing deep insights into the past, present and future of consciousness research. Consciousness, Life and the Universe builds a unified view of consciousness across biological, chemical and physical scales, tracing the natural connections from the infinitesimally small to the infinitely big; from quantum fields and elementary particles to molecules, cells and living organisms to the cosmos; from the evolution of life to the evolution of the universe and to the future of humanity. The book provides a unified framework for future consciousness studies and identifies the scientific and technological approaches that are essential for further understanding consciousness. Through this pioneering research approach, the book clearly redefines consciousness and life and conceives a plausible view of the origin and nature of the universe. This is a must-read for students and researchers in consciousness studies, cognitive psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience, as well as anyone interested in the biological and physical basis of consciousness and the history and evolution of consciousness research.
The Consciousness Network: How the Brain Creates our Reality
by Cyriel PennartzWhat is the relationship between consciousness and our brain? Are they one and the same? Who are we really? The Consciousness Network presents a novel account of one of the greatest scientific challenges of the twenty-first century: understanding the connection between brain and mind.The book explores remarkable cases of patients who demonstrate how our impression of reality is created by the brain. Age-old questions about dreams, colour perception, phantom sensations and hallucinations are illuminated by surprising discoveries from the latest brain research. How does consciousness differ from memory, emotions and behaviour? How did it develop during the evolution of life on earth, and does it serve a purpose? Does the brain leave room for free will? In this unique blend of philosophy, history, psychology and neuroscience, Cyriel Pennartz breaks new ground by presenting an original theory of brain and mind, substantiated by brain research in patients and healthy people. This theory, inspired by the seventeenth-century philosopher Spinoza, goes significantly deeper than current thinking based on computer models or artificial intelligence.The Consciousness Network is essential reading for students working at the interface of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, philosophy of mind and cognitive science, as well as anyone interested in consciousness and the brain.
The Consciousness Paradox: Consciousness, Concepts, and Higher-Order Thoughts (Representation and Mind series)
by Rocco J. GennaroA defense of a version of the higher-order thought (HOT) theory of consciousness with special attention to such topics as concepts and animal consciousness. Consciousness is arguably the most important area within contemporary philosophy of mind and perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the world. Despite an explosion of research from philosophers, psychologists, and scientists, attempts to explain consciousness in neurophysiological, or even cognitive, terms are often met with great resistance. In The Consciousness Paradox, Rocco Gennaro aims to solve an underlying paradox, namely, how it is possible to hold a number of seemingly inconsistent views, including higher-order thought (HOT) theory, conceptualism, infant and animal consciousness, concept acquisition, and what he calls the HOT-brain thesis. He defends and further develops a metapsychological reductive representational theory of consciousness and applies it to several importantly related problems. Gennaro proposes a version of the HOT theory of consciousness that he calls the "wide intrinsicality view" and shows why it is superior to various alternatives, such as self-representationalism and first-order representationalism. HOT theory says that what makes a mental state conscious is that a suitable higher-order thought is directed at that mental state.Thus Gennaro argues for an overall philosophical theory of consciousness while applying it to other significant issues not usually addressed in the philosophical literature on consciousness. Most cognitive science and empirical works on such topics as concepts and animal consciousness do not address central philosophical theories of consciousness. Gennaro's integration of empirical and philosophical concerns will make his argument of interest to both philosophers and nonphilosophers.
The Consciousness Paradox
by Rocco J. GennaroConsciousness is arguably the most important area within contemporary philosophy of mind and perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the world. Despite an explosion of research from philosophers, psychologists, and scientists, attempts to explain consciousness in neurophysiological, or even cognitive, terms are often met with great resistance. In The Consciousness Paradox, Rocco Gennaro aims to solve an underlying paradox, namely, how it is possible to hold a number of seemingly inconsistent views, including higher-order thought (HOT) theory, conceptualism, infant and animal consciousness, concept acquisition, and what he calls the HOT-brain thesis. He defends and further develops a metapsychological reductive representational theory of consciousness and applies it to several importantly related problems. Gennaro proposes a version of the HOT theory of consciousness that he calls the "wide intrinsicality view" and shows why it is superior to various alternatives, such as self-representationalism and first-order representationalism. HOT theory says that what makes a mental state conscious is that a suitable higher-order thought is directed at that mental state. Thus Gennaro argues for an overall philosophical theory of consciousness while applying it to other significant issues not usually addressed in the philosophical literature on consciousness. Most cognitive science and empirical works on such topics as concepts and animal consciousness do not address central philosophical theories of consciousness. Gennaro's integration of empirical and philosophical concerns will make his argument of interest to both philosophers and nonphilosophers.
Consciousness Reconsidered
by Owen FlanaganConsciousness is neither miraculous nor ultimately mysterious. In this broad, entertaining, and persuasive account, Flanagan argues that we are on the way to understanding consciousness and its place in the natural order. No aspect of consciousness escapes Flanagan's probe. Qualia, self-consciousness, disorders such as blindsight, various kinds of amnesia, and multiple personalities all find a place in this powerful synthetic theory that contends that consciousness is real, plays an important causal role, and resides in the brain.
Consciousness Revisited: Materialism without Phenomenal Concepts (Representation and Mind series)
by Michael TyeFour major puzzles of consciousness philosophical materialism must confront after rejecting the phenomenal concept strategy.We are material beings in a material world, but we are also beings who have experiences and feelings. How can these subjective states be just a matter of matter? To defend materialism, philosophical materialists have formulated what is sometimes called "the phenomenal-concept strategy," which holds that we possess a range of special concepts for classifying the subjective aspects of our experiences. In Consciousness Revisited, the philosopher Michael Tye, until now a proponent of the the phenomenal-concept strategy, argues that the strategy is mistaken.A rejection of phenomenal concepts leaves the materialist with the task of finding some other strategy for defending materialism. Tye points to four major puzzles of consciousness that arise: How is it possible for Mary, in the famous thought experiment, to make a discovery when she leaves her black-and-white room? In what does the explanatory gap consist and how can it be bridged? How can the hard problem of consciousness be solved? How are zombies possible? Tye presents solutions to these puzzles—solutions that relieve the pressure on the materialist created by the failure of the phenomenal-concept strategy. In doing so, he discusses and makes new proposals on a wide range of issues, including the nature of perceptual content, the conditions necessary for consciousness of a given object, the proper understanding of change blindness, the nature of phenomenal character and our awareness of it, whether we have privileged access to our own experiences, and, if we do, in what such access consists.
The Consciousness Revolutions: From Amoeba Awareness to Human Emancipation
by Shimon EdelmanThis book is about all things consciousness, great and small. It starts by pointing to the key characteristic of consciousness, without realizing which it cannot be understood: like everything else about the mind, it is fundamentally a kind of computation. Among many other matters, this explains: how it is that we share some aspects of consciousness with bacteria; how it can arise in artificial machines and not just living ones; how the empty cocoon of the self that it spins ends up pretending to be the butterfly; and how consciousness dooms this virtual butterfly to the splendor and the suffering of being awake and aware. Unlike most other books on consciousness, this one includes a discussion of some possible ways whereby we, pinned like butterflies by our species’ history and socioeconomic circumstances, can awake to our collective predicament and join forces to do something about it. It should be of interest to all readers who care about the nature of our lived experience — and about our survival, which depends on developing critical consciousness of our dire situation and the social dynamics that shape it.
Consciousness Studies in Sciences and Humanities: Eastern and Western Perspectives (Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality #8)
by Prem Saran Satsangi Anna Margaretha Horatschek Anand SrivastavThis book presents consciousness models from Eastern and Western perspectives that accommodate current scientific research in the natural sciences and humanities, from neurological experiments through philosophical enquiries to spiritual approaches. It offers up to date research from key disciplines in consciousness studies ranging from neurology, quantum mechanics, algorithmic science, mathematics, and astrophysics to literary studies, philosophy, and (comparative) theology. The volume examines the dichotomy between Western and Eastern perceptions of consciousness – where consciousness is perceived as brain activity by Western scientists, and as a divine presence by various religions, especially in the East. The essays contextualize each other and reciprocally illuminate the potential and limits of the respective approaches. The texts aim at a transdisciplinary and transcultural exchange of ideas in consciousness studies and address a readership from interested lay-readers to experts of the field. The volume is of interest to researchers of consciousness studies.
Consciousness, Time, and Scepticism in Hume’s Thought (Routledge Studies in Eighteenth-Century Philosophy)
by Lorne FalkensteinDavid Hume’s philosophical work presents the reader with a perplexing mix of constructive accounts of empirically guided belief and destructive sceptical arguments against all belief. This book reconciles this conflict by showing that Hume intended his scepticism to be remedial. It immunizes us against the influence of “unphilosophical” causes of belief, determining us to proportion our beliefs to the evidence.In making this case, this book develops Humean positions on topics Hume did not discuss in detail but that are of interest to contemporary philosophers: consciousness and the unity of consciousness, temporal experience, visual spatial perception, the experience of colour and other qualia, objective experience, and spatially extended minds. It also challenges currently accepted interpretations of Hume’s views on the finite divisibility of space and time, vacuum, the duration of unchanging objects, and identity over time. It deals with criticisms of Hume that were raised by his contemporaries, notably by Thomas Reid, draws attention to earlier seventeenth‑ and eighteenth‑century work that has bearing on the interpretation of Hume’s thought, and compares Hume’s achievements with those of later nineteenth‑century psychologists and philosophers.Consciousness, Time, and Scepticism in Hume’s Thought will appeal to scholars and advanced students interested in Hume, history of philosophy, and early modern theories of perception, time, and consciousness.
The Conscription Crisis of 1944
by Robert MacGregor DawsonIn the late summer of 1944 the people and Government of Canada had every reason to view with satisfaction the progress of the war and their own part in it. The landing in Normandy had been successful, the enemy was in retreat from Belgium and Holland, Germany itself had been entered. The end of hostilities in Europe seemed in sight, and the Canadian Government in October began to plan for the celebrations to take place on the day victory was announced. Suddenly this atmosphere of imminent success and relaxed tension was broken by the unexpected re-appearance of the ghost of conscription.<P><P> In mid-October Colonel Ralston, the Minister of National Defence, returned abruptly from an inspection trip overseas to report to Prime Minister King that infantry reinforcements for the units fighting in Italy and Northwest Europe were an acute problem and that there seemed no hope of increasing them to the required numbers in the required time. Many, from the Minister himself down, felt that the manpower pools could only be filled by immediate conscription from overseas service of men already called up for home defence under the National Resources Mobilization Act. The Government of Canada was thus confronted with a crisis of the first magnitude, which brought with it the threat of a schism that would cripple the war effort and set people against people, province against province for many years to come.<P> This book provides an engrossing account of how between mid-October and mid-November this crisis was faced and resolved. Professor Dawson is keenly aware of the drama in the clash of personalities, of political views, of beliefs and conducts the eagerly following reader day by day through absorbing events and discussions to the morning of November 22 when Prime Minister King decided on the Order-in-Council drafting 16,000 men. The moment of solution was a historic one: conscription had been put forward by the majority in such a fashion that the minority could accept it, if not with enthusiasm, at least with substantial goodwill. The contrast with 1917 was inescapable.<P> Professor Dawson has given a brilliant essays on the relation of political decision to popular consent in a democracy and it will attract and hold the attention of everyone interested in the arts of government.
Consecutive Interpreting
by Alexander V. KozinThis book sheds light on the phenomenon of consecutive interpreting. It combines phenomenological and empirical analyses to build a communication theory of interpreting. The author begins by reviewing mainstream research on consecutive interpreting and then dissociates himself from it, conducting a three-tier analysis of interpreting data. He concludes by presenting an alternative theory of consecutive interpreting. As he makes clear from the outset, a new and combined methodology for consecutive interpreting needs to be constructed to satisfy both the relation of the phenomenon to experience as well as its social foundation. He also stresses the potential within the humanities for wider employment of the phenomenological empirical method. This book will appeal to students and scholars of linguistics, translation, phenomenology, social interaction and communication
Consensualism in Principle: On the Foundations of Non-Consequentialist Moral Reasoning (Studies in Ethics)
by Rahul KumarThis book presents and argues for a suitably articulated version of consensualism as a form of Kantian moral theory with an ability to powerfully illuminate the moral intuitions to which Kantian and utilitarian theories have traditionally appealed.
Consensus on Peirce’s Concept of Habit: Before and Beyond Consciousness (Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics #31)
by Donna E. West Myrdene AndersonThis book constitutes the first treatment of C. S. Peirce s unique concept of habit. Habit animated the pragmatists of the 19th and early 20th centuries, who picked up the baton from classical scholars, principally Aristotle. Most prominent among the pragmatists thereafter is Charles Sanders Peirce. In our vernacular, habit connotes a pattern of conduct. Nonetheless, Peirce s concept transcends application to mere regularity or to human conduct; it extends into natural and social phenomena, making cohesive inner and outer worlds. Chapters in this anthology define and amplify Peircean habit; as such, they highlight the dialectic between doubt and belief. Doubt destabilizes habit, leaving open the possibility for new beliefs in the form of habit-change; and without habit-change, the regularity would fall short of habit conforming to automatic/mechanistic systems. This treatment of habit showcases how, through human agency, innovative regularities of behavior and thought advance the process of making the unconscious conscious. The latter materializes when affordances (invariant habits of physical phenomena) form the basis for modifications in action schemas and modes of reasoning. Further, the book charts how indexical signs in language and action are pivotal in establishing attentional patterns; and how these habits accommodate novel orientations within event templates. It is intended for those interested in Peirce s metaphysic or semiotic, including both senior scholars and students of philosophy and religion, psychology, sociology and anthropology, as well as mathematics, and the natural sciences. "
Consent in the Childhood Classroom: Centering Student Voices Across Early Years and Elementary Education
by Clio StearnsConsent in the Childhood Classroom challenges typical premises of social and emotional learning, self-regulation, and putative misbehavior by centering the theme of consent in the experiences of young children and their teachers. Early childhood and elementary teachers often face disruptions and acts of dissent from young students, without a helpful conceptual framework for understanding how these expressions may stem from social injustices, developmental nuances, and problematic assumptions about the nature of children’s agency. By posing complex yet relatable questions about the presumptions of authority, positivity, and routines in learning environments, and drawing on classroom anecdotes along with interviews with children and teachers, this book offers an accessible approach to cultivating expansive relationships in the classroom, a vision for a richer and more mutual education, and a clearer understanding of what school means from the perspective of the child.
The Consequences of Ideas: Understanding the Concepts that Shaped our World
by R. C. Sproul Good News PublishersIf you think philosophy is irrelevant to your daily life, think again. You need only observe the world around you to discover how substantially the ideas of history's thinkers affect us still. You can hear it in the beliefs of your non-Christian friends. In the media, your music, your children's classrooms. You can see it in our public policies, on every bookstore shelf, in the way we understand our very existence--even in the church. We like to believe that we create our little worlds from scratch and then live in them. But the reality is, we step into an environment that already exists, and we learn to interact with it. The game has been conceived long before us; the rules and boundaries already decided. We may be amused when Rene Descartes labors so long in order to conclude that he exists, or puzzled by Immanuel Kant spending his life analyzing how we know anything. Yet these men were not simply contemplating minutiae. The foundational thinking of philosophy tries to lay bare all of our assumptions, revealing our false and sometimes dangerous beliefs so that we may arrive at a coherent worldview. The greater our familiarity with the ideas that have shaped our culture over the centuries, the greater our ability to understand--and influence--that culture for Christ. From ancient Greek thinkers like Plato and Aristotle to Christian philosophers like Augustine and Aquinas to the molders of modern thought such as Kant and Nietszche, R. C. Sproul traces the contours of Western philosophy throughout history and demonstrates the massive consequences these ideas have had on world events, theology, the arts, and culture--as well as in our everyday lives.
Consequences of Language: From Primary to Enhanced Intersubjectivity
by N. J. Enfield Jack SidnellWhat is it about humans that makes language possible, and what is it about language that makes us human?If you are reading this, you have done something that only our species has evolved to do. You have acquired a natural language. This book asks, How has this changed us? Where scholars have long wondered what it is about humans that makes language possible, N. J. Enfield and Jack Sidnell ask instead, What is it about humans that is made possible by language? In Consequences of Language their objective is to understand what modern language really is and to identify its logical and conceptual consequences for social life. Central to this undertaking is the concept of intersubjectivity, the open sharing of subjective experience. There is, Enfield and Sidnell contend, a uniquely human form of intersubjectivity, and it is essentially intertwined with language in two ways: a primary form of intersubjectivity was necessary for language to have begun evolving in our species in the first place and then language, through its defining reflexive properties, transformed the nature of our intersubjectivity. In the authors&’ analysis, social accountability—the bedrock of society—is grounded in this linguistically transformed, enhanced kind of intersubjectivity.The account of the language-mind-society connection put forward in Consequences of Language is one of unprecedented reach, suggesting new connections across disciplines centrally concerned with language—from anthropology and philosophy to sociology and cognitive science—and among those who would understand the foundational role of language in making us human.
Consequences of Reference Failure (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy)
by Michael McKinseyThis book defends the Direct Reference (DR) thesis in philosophy of language regarding proper names and indexical pronouns. It uniquely draws out the significant consequences of DR when it is conjoined with the fact that these singular terms sometimes fail to refer. Even though DR is widely endorsed by philosophers of language, many philosophically important and radically controversial consequences of the thesis have gone largely unexplored. This book makes an important contribution to the DR literature by explicitly addressing the consequences that follow from DR regarding failure of reference. Michael McKinsey argues that only a form of neutral free logic can capture a revised concept of logical truth that is consistent with the fact that any sentence of any form that contains a directly referring genuine term can fail to be either true or false on interpretations where that term fails to refer. He also explains how it is possible for there to be true (or false) sentences that contain non-referring names, even though this possibility seems inconsistent with DR. Consequences of Reference Failure will be of interest to philosophers of language and logic and linguists working on Direct Reference.
Consequentialism (New Problems of Philosophy)
by Julia DriverConsequentialism is the view that the rightness or wrongness of actions depend solely on their consequences. It is one of the most influential, and controversial, of all ethical theories. In this book, Julia Driver introduces and critically assesses consequentialism in all its forms. After a brief historical introduction to the problem, Driver examines utilitarianism, and the arguments of its most famous exponents, John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, and explains the fundamental questions underlying utilitarian theory: what value is to be specified and how it is to be maximized. Driver also discusses indirect forms of consequentialism, the important theories of motive consequentialism and virtue consequentialism, and explains why the distinction between subjective and objective consequentialism is so important. Including helpful features such as a glossary, chapter summaries, and annotated further reading at the end of each chapter, Consequentialism is ideal for students seeking an authoritative and clearly explained survey of this important problem.
Consequentialism and Environmental Ethics: Consequentialism And Environmental Ethics (Routledge Studies in Ethics and Moral Theory)
by Ramona Ilea Avram Hiller Leonard KahnThis volume works to connect issues in environmental ethics with the best work in contemporary normative theory. Environmental issues challenge contemporary ethical theorists to account for topics that traditional ethical theories do not address to any significant extent. This book articulates and evaluates consequentialist responses to that challenge. Contributors provide a thorough and well-rounded analysis of the benefits and limitations of the consequentialist perspective in addressing environmental issues. In particular, the contributors use consequentialist theory to address central questions in environmental ethics, such as questions about what kinds of things have value; about decision-making in light of the long-term, intergenerational nature of environmental issues; and about the role that a state’s being natural should play in ethical deliberation.