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Natural philosophy : from social brains to knowledge, reality, morality, and beauty / Paul Thagard

Author
Thagard, Paul
Published
New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2019.
Physical Description
1 online resource : illustrations (black and white).
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Contents
Machine generated contents note: 1.Philosophy Matters -- Why Philosophy? -- What Is Philosophy? -- Issues and Alternatives: Ways of Philosophizing -- Elements of Natural Philosophy -- Overview of This Book -- Summary and Discussion -- Notes -- Project -- 2.Mind -- Mental Processes -- Issues and Alternatives -- Neural Mechanisms -- Semantic Pointers -- Inference to the Best Explanation to Multilevel Materialism -- Philosophical Objections -- Consciousness -- Summary and Discussion -- Notes -- Project -- 3.Knowledge -- Minds and Knowledge -- Issues and Alternatives -- What Is Knowledge? -- The Growth of Knowledge -- Justification -- Probability -- Knowledge Is Social -- Conceptual Change and the Brain Revolution -- Summary and Discussion -- Notes -- Project -- 4.Reality -- Make Reality Great Again -- Issues and Alternatives -- Existence -- Truth -- Space and Time -- Groups and Society -- Summary and Discussion -- Notes -- Project -- 5.Explanation -- Knowledge Meets Reality -- Issues and Alternatives -- Styles of Explanation -- Emotional and Social Aspects of Explanation -- Causality -- Reduction and Emergence -- Summary and Discussion -- Notes -- Project -- 6.Morality -- Right and Wrong -- Issues and Alternatives -- Values -- Moral Emotions -- Objective Values and Rational Emotions -- Needs -- The Needs of Others -- Empathy -- Conflicting Needs and Ethical Coherence -- Why Is There Evil? -- Summary and Discussion -- Notes -- Project -- 7.Justice -- From Morality to Justice -- Issues and Alternatives -- Just Societies: Needs Sufficiency -- Just Governments -- Just Social Change -- Basic Income -- Summary and Discussion -- Notes -- Project -- 8.Meaning -- Life and Language -- Issues and Alternatives -- Language and Mental Representation -- The Meanings of Life -- The Meaning of Death -- Summary and Discussion -- Notes -- Project -- 9.Beauty and Beyond -- Aesthetics -- Issues and Alternatives -- Beauty in Painting -- Other Emotions in Painting -- Creativity in Painting -- Beauty in Music -- Other Emotions in Music -- Creativity in Music -- Empathy in Literature and Film -- Summary and Discussion -- Notes -- Project -- 10.Future Philosophy -- Looking Backwards and Forwards -- Free Will -- Mathematical Knowledge and Reality -- Nonhumans: Animals and Machines -- Summary and Discussion -- Conclusion: 12 Rules for Philosophical Life -- Notes -- Project.
Summary
Philosophy is the attempt to answer general questions about the nature of knowledge, reality, and values. Natural philosophy draws heavily on the sciences and finds no room for supernatural entities such as souls, gods, and possible worlds. Paul Thagard develops interconnected theories of knowledge, reality, morality, justice, meaning, and the arts. He uses new theories of brain mechanisms and social interactions to forge original accounts of the traditional branches of philosophy, including epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics. Rather than reducing the humanities to the sciences, this text displays fertile interconnections that show that philosophical questions and artistic practices can be much better understood by considering how human brains operate and interact in social contexts.
Subject(s)
ISBN
9780190686451 (ebook)
Audience Notes
Specialized.
Note
Previously issued in print: 2019.
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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