The Immortalization Commission

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The Immortalization Commission

John Gray
The Immortalization Commission Book PDF

Author : John Gray
Publisher : Doubleday Canada
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2011-04-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780307375735

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The Immortalization Commission by John Gray Pdf

A great philosopher will change the way you think about your life. For most of human history, religion provided a clear explanation of life and death. But in the late 19th and early 20th centuries new ideas — from psychiatry to evolution to Communist — seemed to suggest that our fate was now in our own hands. We would ourselves become God. This is the theme of a remarkable new book by one of the world's greatest lving philosophers. It is a brilliant and frightening look at the problems and opportunities of a world coming to grips with humankind's now solitary, unaided place in the universe. Gray takes two major examples: the belief that the science-backed Communism of the new USSR could reshape the planet, and the belief among a group of Edwardian intellectuals — popularized through mediums and automatic writing — that there was a non-religious form of life after death. Gray presents an extraordinary cast of philosophers, journalists, politicians, charlatans and mass murderers, all of whom felt driven by a specifically scientific and modern world view. He raises a host of fascinating questions about what it means to be human. The implications of Gray's book will haunt its readers for the rest of their lives.

The Immortalization Commission

John Gray
The Immortalization Commission Book PDF

Author : John Gray
Publisher : Penguin UK
Page : 239 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2011-10-27
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780141924267

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The Immortalization Commission by John Gray Pdf

SUNDAY TIMES, NEW STATESMAN and TLS BOOKS OF THE YEAR At the heart of all human experience lies our obsession with death. For many years we turned to religion for answers, but with the twentieth century came ideas from evolution and politics to suggest that our lives - and afterlives - were in our own hands. Such ideas went on to have both trivial and terrible effects: from a sweeping craze of séances to the mass-murders of the Stalinist terror. Gray raises vital questions about the 'truths' science can offer, the technology we are still exploiting for immortality - and exactly what it means to be human.

The Immortalization Commission

John Gray
The Immortalization Commission Book PDF

Author : John Gray
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2011-03-29
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1429953918

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The Immortalization Commission by John Gray Pdf

A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title At the heart of human experience lies an obsession with the nature of death. Religion, for most of history, has provided an explanation for human life and a vision of what comes after it. But in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such beliefs came under relentless pressure as new ideas—from psychiatry to evolution to communism—seemed to suggest that our fate was now in our own hands: humans could cease to be animals, defeat death, and become immortal. In The Immortalization Commission, the acclaimed political philosopher and critic John Gray takes a brilliant and frightening look at humankind's dangerous striving toward a scientific version of immortality. Probing the parallel faiths of Bolshevik "God-builders," who sought to reshape the planet and psychical researchers, who believed they had evidence of a nonreligious form of life after death, Gray raises fascinating questions about how such beliefs threaten the very nature of what it means to be human. He looks to philosophers, journalists, politicians, charlatans, and mass murderers who all felt driven by a specifically scientific and modern worldview and whose revolt against death resulted in a series of experiments that ravaged whole countries. An urgent examination of Darwin's post-religious legacy, The Immortalization Commission is an important work from "one of Britain's leading public intellectuals" (The Wall Street Journal).

The Immortalization Commission

John Gray
The Immortalization Commission Book PDF

Author : John Gray
Publisher : Penguin Books
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Death
ISBN : 0141041889

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The Immortalization Commission by John Gray Pdf

John Gray's The Immortalization Commission- The Strange Quest to Cheat Death raises vital questions about the 'truths' science can offer, the technology we are still exploiting for immortality - and exactly what it means to be human. At the heart of all human experience lies our obsession with death. For many years, we turned to religion for our answers, but at the turn of the twentieth centuries ideas from evolution and politics seemed to suggest that our lives - and afterlives - were in our own hands. These ideas would have both trivial and terrible effects, from the nightmares of H. G. Wells's science fiction and the wild, sweeping craze of seances to the murder of millions in the Stalinist terror. 'Our sharpest critic of utopian fantasies skewers the crazed but enduring dream of cheating age, time and death' Boyd Tonkin,Independent 'Elegant ... He is on to something important regarding the delusion that science consists of indefinite progress' Sunday Telegraph 'One of the most important and insightful polemicists currently writing in English... humanism's most vocal critic' Financial Times 'Gray is an engaging writer, an entertaining historian and a controversialist whose opinions can never be taken for granted' New Statesman John Gray has been Professor of Politics at Oxford University, Visiting Professor at Harvard and Yale and Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics. His books include False Dawn- The Delusions of Global Capitalism, Black Mass- Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopiaand Straw Dogs- Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals. His selected writings, Gray's Anatomy, was published in 2009.

The Silence of Animals

John Gray
The Silence of Animals Book PDF

Author : John Gray
Publisher : Penguin UK
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2013-02-28
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780141969022

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The Silence of Animals by John Gray Pdf

The powerful, beautiful and chilling sequel to the bestselling Straw Dogs John Gray draws on an extraordinary array of memoirs, poems, fiction and philosophy to make us re-imagine our place in the world. Writers as varied as Ballard, Borges, Freud and Conrad are mesmerised by forms of human extremity - experiences on the outer edge of the possible, or which tip into fantasy and myth. What happens to us when we starve, when we fight, when we are imprisoned? And how do our imaginations leap into worlds way beyond our real experience? The Silence of Animals is consistently fascinating, filled with unforgettable images and a delight in the conundrum of our existence - an existence which we decorate with countless myths and ideas, where we twist and turn to avoid acknowledging that we too are animals, separated from the others perhaps only by our self-conceit. In the Babel we have created for ourselves, it is the silence of animals that both reproaches and bewitches us. Reviews: 'The Silence of Animals is a new kind of book from Gray, a sort of poetic reverie on the human state, on the state, that is, of the human animal ... He blends lyricism with wisdom, humour with admonition, nay-saying with affirmation, making in the process a marvellous statement of what it is to be both an animal and a human in the strange, terrifying and exquisite world into which we straw dogs find ourselves thrown' John Banville, Guardian 'Interesting, original and memorable ... The Silence of Animals is a beautifully written book, the product of a strongly questioning mind. It is effectively an anthology with detailed commentary, setting out one rich and suggestive episode after another' Philip Hensher, Spectator About the author: John Gray has been Professor of Politics at Oxford University, Visiting Professor at Harvard and Yale and Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics. He now writes full time. His books include False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism, Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals and The Immortalization Commission: The Strange Quest to Cheat Death. His selected writings, Gray's Anatomy, was published in 2009.

The Soul of the Marionette

John Gray
The Soul of the Marionette Book PDF

Author : John Gray
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2015-05-19
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781429953191

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The Soul of the Marionette by John Gray Pdf

Compared with that of humans, the life of the marionette looks more like an enviable state of freedom In his brilliantly enjoyable and freewheeling new book, John Gray draws together the religious, philosophic, and fantastical traditions that question the very idea of human freedom. We flatter ourselves about the nature of free will and yet the most enormous forces—logical, physical, metaphysical—constrain our every action. Many writers and intellectuals have always understood this, but instead of embracing our condition we battle against it, with everyone from world conquerors to modern scientists dreaming of a "human dominion" almost comically at odds with our true state. Filled with wonderful examples and drawing on the widest possible reading (from the Gnostics to Philip K. Dick), The Soul of the Marionette is a stimulating and engaging meditation on everything from cybernetics to the fairground marionettes of the title.

Feline Philosophy

John Gray
Feline Philosophy Book PDF

Author : John Gray
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Page : 99 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2020-11-24
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780374718794

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Feline Philosophy by John Gray Pdf

The author of Straw Dogs, famous for his provocative critiques of scientific hubris and the delusions of progress and humanism, turns his attention to cats—and what they reveal about humans' torturous relationship to the world and to themselves. The history of philosophy has been a predictably tragic or comical succession of palliatives for human disquiet. Thinkers from Spinoza to Berdyaev have pursued the perennial questions of how to be happy, how to be good, how to be loved, and how to live in a world of change and loss. But perhaps we can learn more from cats--the animal that has most captured our imagination--than from the great thinkers of the world. In Feline Philosophy, the philosopher John Gray discovers in cats a way of living that is unburdened by anxiety and self-consciousness, showing how they embody answers to the big questions of love and attachment, mortality, morality, and the Self: Montaigne's house cat, whose un-examined life may have been the one worth living; Meo, the Vietnam War survivor with an unshakable capacity for "fearless joy"; and Colette's Saha, the feline heroine of her subversive short story "The Cat", a parable about the pitfalls of human jealousy. Exploring the nature of cats, and what we can learn from it, Gray offers a profound, thought-provoking meditation on the follies of human exceptionalism and our fundamentally vulnerable and lonely condition. He charts a path toward a life without illusions and delusions, revealing how we can endure both crisis and transformation, and adapt to a changed scene, as cats have always done.

Straw Dogs

John Gray
Straw Dogs Book PDF

Author : John Gray
Publisher : Granta Books
Page : 246 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2015-07-02
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9781783782611

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Straw Dogs by John Gray Pdf

Straw Dogs is a radical work of philosophy that sets out to challenge our most cherished assumptions about what it means to be human. From Plato to Christianity, from the Enlightenment to Nietzsche and Marx, the Western tradition has been based on arrogant and erroneous beliefs about human beings and their place in the world. Philosophies such as liberalism and Marxism enthrone humankind as a species whose destiny is to transcend natural limits and conquer the Earth. Even in the present day, despite Darwin's discoveries, nearly all schools of thought take as their starting point the belief that humans are radically different from other animals. In Straw Dogs, John Gray argues that this humanist belief in human difference is an illusion and explores how the world and human life look once humanism has been finally abandoned.

The Year of Living Biblically

A. J. Jacobs
The Year of Living Biblically Book PDF

Author : A. J. Jacobs
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 416 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2008-09-09
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780743291484

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The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs Pdf

Documents the author's quest to live one year in literal compliance with biblical rules, from being fruitful and multiplying to growing a beard and avoiding mixed-fiber clothing.

Black Mass

John Gray
Black Mass Book PDF

Author : John Gray
Publisher : Penguin UK
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2011-11-24
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780241959176

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Black Mass by John Gray Pdf

Our conventional view of history and human progress is wrong. It is founded on a pernicious myth of an acheivable utopia that in the last century alone caused the murder of tens of millions. In Black Mass John Gray tears down the religious, political and secular beliefs that we insist are fundamental to the human project and shows us how a misplaced faith in our ability to improve the world has actually made it far worse.

The Virtuous Citizen

Tim Soutphommasane
The Virtuous Citizen Book PDF

Author : Tim Soutphommasane
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 267 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2012-08-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781139561105

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The Virtuous Citizen by Tim Soutphommasane Pdf

What does it mean to be a citizen in a multicultural society? And what role must patriotism play in defining our relationship with our country and fellow citizens? In The Virtuous Citizen Tim Soutphommasane answers these questions with a critical defence of liberal nationalism. Considering a range of contemporary political debates from Europe, North America and Australia, over issues including multiculturalism, national history, civic education and immigration, Soutphommasane argues that a love of country should be valued alongside tolerance, mutual respect and public reasonableness as a civic virtue. A liberal form of patriotism, grounded in national identity, is, if anything, essential for political stability in a diverse society. This book is required reading not only for political theorists and philosophers but also for researchers and professionals in political science, sociology, history and public policy.

Revolutionary Experiments

Nikolai Krementsov
Revolutionary Experiments Book PDF

Author : Nikolai Krementsov
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 285 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2014
Category : History
ISBN : 9780199992980

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Revolutionary Experiments by Nikolai Krementsov Pdf

Krementsov examines a particular fascination with the dream of immortality and the place of science and fiction in its pursuit in Russia during roughly a decade that followed the country's political revolutions of 1917. It argues that contemporary scientific experiments aimed at the control over life, death, and disease inspired many Russian writers to conduct their own literary experiments with the ideas and techniques offered by experimental biology and medicine, which found expression in both popular-science writings and a new literary genre, science fiction.

Rocks of Ages

Stephen Jay Gould
Rocks of Ages Book PDF

Author : Stephen Jay Gould
Publisher : Ballantine Books
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2011-07-20
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780307801418

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Rocks of Ages by Stephen Jay Gould Pdf

"People of good will wish to see science and religion at peace. . . . I do not see how science and religion could be unified, or even synthesized, under any common scheme of explanation or analysis; but I also do not understand why the two enterprises should experience any conflict." So states internationally renowned evolutionist and bestselling author Stephen Jay Gould in the simple yet profound thesis of his brilliant new book. Writing with bracing intelligence and elegant clarity, Gould sheds new light on a dilemma that has plagued thinking people since the Renaissance. Instead of choosing between science and religion, Gould asks, why not opt for a golden mean that accords dignity and distinction to each realm? At the heart of Gould's penetrating argument is a lucid, contemporary principle he calls NOMA (for nonoverlapping magisteria)--a "blessedly simple and entirely conventional resolution" that allows science and religion to coexist peacefully in a position of respectful noninterference. Science defines the natural world; religion, our moral world, in recognition of their separate spheres of influence. In elaborating and exploring this thought-provoking concept, Gould delves into the history of science, sketching affecting portraits of scientists and moral leaders wrestling with matters of faith and reason. Stories of seminal figures such as Galileo, Darwin, and Thomas Henry Huxley make vivid his argument that individuals and cultures must cultivate both a life of the spirit and a life of rational inquiry in order to experience the fullness of being human. In his bestselling books Wonderful Life, The Mismeasure of Man, and Questioning the Millennium, Gould has written on the abundance of marvels in human history and the natural world. In Rocks of Ages, Gould's passionate humanism, ethical discernment, and erudition are fused to create a dazzling gem of contemporary cultural philosophy. As the world's preeminent Darwinian theorist writes, "I believe, with all my heart, in a respectful, even loving concordat between . . . science and religion."

Gray's Anatomy

John Gray
Gray s Anatomy Book PDF

Author : John Gray
Publisher : Penguin UK
Page : 496 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2013-03-07
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780141976549

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Gray's Anatomy by John Gray Pdf

From the author of Straw Dogs, John Gray's Gray's Anatomy is a pugnacious and brilliantly readable collection of essays from across his career. Why is progress a pernicious myth? Why do beliefs that humanity can be improved end in farce or horror? Is atheism a hangover from Christian faith? John Gray, one of the most iconoclastic thinkers of our time, smashes through civilization's most cherished beliefs, overturning our view of the world, and our place in it. 'The most prescient of British public intellectuals' Pankaj Mishra, Financial Times 'Gray has consistently anticipated the shape of things to come ... he teaches us that true humanism is to be found in uncertainty and doubt' Will Self 'Gray's dissection of modern delusion, cant and wishful thinking is to be welcomed in this moment of convulsion ... This is a book to learn from and argue with' Ben Wilson, Literary Review 'A thoroughly enjoyable book ... These essays cover a remarkable range of topics, from Isaiah Berlin to Damien Hirst, from torture to environmentalism. But their unifying theme is that our naïve belief in the idea of progress has turned modern life into a constant round of shadow-boxing' David Runciman, Observer 'Demolishes the theory that we have reached the "end of history", the dogmas of secular liberalism, the weaknesses of financial casino capitalism and the limits of energy-intensive economic growth' Economist John Gray is most recently the acclaimed author of Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, Heresies: Against Progress and Other Illusions, Al Qaeda and What It Means To Be Modern and Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia. He is Emeritus Professor of European Thought at the University of London.

Religion without God

Ronald Dworkin
Religion without God Book PDF

Author : Ronald Dworkin
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 193 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2013-10-01
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780674728035

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Religion without God by Ronald Dworkin Pdf

In his last book, Ronald Dworkin addresses timeless questions: What is religion and what is God's place in it? What are death and immortality? He joins a sense of cosmic mystery and beauty to the claim that value is objective, independent of mind, and immanent in the world. Belief in God is one manifestation of this view, but not the only one.