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The Brain and the Meaning of Life 1st edition by Paul Thagard ISBN 1400834619 9781400834617

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The Brain and the Meaning of Life Paul Thagard Digital Instant Download

Author(s): Paul Thagard
ISBN(s): 9781400834617, 1400834619
Edition: Course Book
File Details: PDF, 1.46 MB
Year: 2010
Language: english
SKU: EB-51957996 Categories: , Tag:

The Brain and the Meaning of Life 1st Edition by Paul Thagard – Ebook PDF Instant Download/Delivery: 1400834619, 9781400834617
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ISBN 10: 1400834619 
ISBN 13: 9781400834617
Author: Paul Thagard

How brain science answers the most intriguing questions about the meaning of life Why is life worth living? What makes actions right or wrong? What is reality and how do we know it? The Brain and the Meaning of Life draws on research in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience to answer some of the most pressing questions about life’s nature and value. Paul Thagard argues that evidence requires the abandonment of many traditional ideas about the soul, free will, and immortality, and shows how brain science matters for fundamental issues about reality, morality, and the meaning of life. The ongoing Brain Revolution reveals how love, work, and play provide good reasons for living. Defending the superiority of evidence-based reasoning over religious faith and philosophical thought experiments, Thagard argues that minds are brains and that reality is what science can discover. Brains come to know reality through a combination of perception and reasoning. Just as important, our brains evaluate aspects of reality through emotions that can produce both good and bad decisions. Our cognitive and emotional abilities allow us to understand reality, decide effectively, act morally, and pursue the vital needs of love, work, and play. Wisdom consists of knowing what matters, why it matters, and how to achieve it. The Brain and the Meaning of Life shows how brain science helps to answer questions about the nature of mind and reality, while alleviating anxiety about the difficulty of life in a vast universe. The book integrates decades of multidisciplinary research, but its clear explanations and humor make it accessible to the general reader.

The Brain and the Meaning of Life 1st Table of contents:

Chapter 1. We All Need Wisdom
Why Live?
Sources of Wisdom
Philosophical Approaches
The Relevance of Minds and Brains
Looking Ahead
Conclusion
Chapter 2. Evidence Beats Faith
Faith versus Evidence
How Faith Works
How Evidence Works
Evidence and Inference in Science
Medicine: Evidence or Faith?
Evidence, Truth, and God
A Priori Reasoning and Thought Experiments
Conclusion
Chapter 3. Minds are Brains
The Brain Revolution
Evidence that Minds are Brains
Evidence for Dualism?
Objections to Mind-Brain Identity
Who are you?
Conclusion
Chapter 4. How Brains Know Reality
Reality and its Discontents
Knowing Objects
Appearance and Reality
Concepts
Knowledge beyond Perception
Coherence in the Brain
Coherence and Truth
Conclusion
Chapter 5. How Brains Feel Emotions
Emotions Matter
Valuations in the Brain
Cognitive Appraisal versus Bodily Perception
Synthesis: The EMOCON Model
Emotional Consciousness
Multilevel Explanations
Rationality and Affective Afflictions
Conclusion
Chapter 6. How Brains Decide
Big Decisions
Inference to the Best Plan
Decisions in the Brain
Changing Goals
How to Make Bad Decisions
Living without Free will
Conclusion
Chapter 7. Why Life is Worth Living
The Meaning of Life
Nihilism
Happiness
Goals and Meaning
Love
Work
Play
Conclusion
Chapter 8. Needs and Hopes
Wants versus Needs
Vital Needs
How Love, Work, and Play Satisfy Needs
Balance, Coherence, and Change
Hope versus Despair
Conclusion
Chapter 9. Ethical Brains
Ethical Decisions
Conscience and Moral Intuitions
Mirror Neurons
Empathy
Moral Motivation
Ethical Theory
Moral Objectivity
Responsibility
Conclusion
Chapter 10. Making Sense of it All
Connections Made
Wisdom Gained
What Kind of Government Should Countries Have?
How Can Creative Change Be Produced?
What is Mathematical Knowledge?
Why is there Something and not Nothing?
The Future of Wisdom

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