The Philosophy Of Human Nature

Author : Howard P. Kainz
Publisher : Open Court
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2015-11-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780812699340

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The Philosophy of Human Nature by Howard P. Kainz Pdf

What, exactly, is human nature? What makes humans different from animals (if there is any difference)? In this book, Howard Kainz presents a philosophical analysis of the various concepts of human nature and the many controversies that have surrounded them for centuries. He explores issues such as whether human beings are truly free, whether human instincts differ from animal instincts, and the realities of human maturity.

Author : James F. Harris
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781412847605

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The Ascent of Man by James F. Harris Pdf

The Ascent of Man develops a comprehensive theory of human nature. James F. Harris sees human nature as an emergent property that supervenes a cluster of properties. Despite significant overlap between individuals that have human nature and those that are biologically human, the concept of human nature developed in this book is different. Whether biologically human or not, an individual may be said to possess human nature. This theory of human nature is called the "cluster theory." Harris takes as his point of departure Plato's comment that in learning what a thing is we should look to the ways in which it acts upon or is acted upon by other things. He commits to a methodological naturalism and draws upon current views from the social and biological sciences. The cluster theory he develops represents one of the very few completely novel theories of human nature developed in the post-Darwin era. It will prove most useful in dealing with philosophical questions involving such contemporary issues as cloning, cybernetics, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The fundamental conceptual issue is how plastic and elastic is the nature of human nature. Just how different might we imagine human beings to be and still be human in the sense that they still possess whatever it is that accounts for a unique nature? The theory of human nature developed in this book is a descriptive, dynamic, bottom-up, non-essentialist, naturalist theory. Harris is well versed in classical philosophy and contemporary behavioral science. He writes in a graceful, open-ended way that both educates and illuminates renewed interest in what it means to be human.

Author : Maria Kronfeldner
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 335 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2023-10-31
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780262549684

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What's Left of Human Nature? by Maria Kronfeldner Pdf

A philosophical account of human nature that defends the concept against dehumanization, Darwinian, and developmentalist challenges. Human nature has always been a foundational issue for philosophy. What does it mean to have a human nature? Is the concept the relic of a bygone age? What is the use of such a concept? What are the epistemic and ontological commitments people make when they use the concept? In What's Left of Human Nature? Maria Kronfeldner offers a philosophical account of human nature that defends the concept against contemporary criticism. In particular, she takes on challenges related to social misuse of the concept that dehumanizes those regarded as lacking human nature (the dehumanization challenge); the conflict between Darwinian thinking and essentialist concepts of human nature (the Darwinian challenge); and the consensus that evolution, heredity, and ontogenetic development result from nurture and nature. After answering each of these challenges, Kronfeldner presents a revisionist account of human nature that minimizes dehumanization and does not fall back on outdated biological ideas. Her account is post-essentialist because it eliminates the concept of an essence of being human; pluralist in that it argues that there are different things in the world that correspond to three different post-essentialist concepts of human nature; and interactive because it understands nature and nurture as interacting at the developmental, epigenetic, and evolutionary levels. On the basis of this, she introduces a dialectical concept of an ever-changing and “looping” human nature. Finally, noting the essentially contested character of the concept and the ambiguity and redundancy of the terminology, she wonders if we should simply eliminate the term “human nature” altogether.

Author : Roger Scruton
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 159 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2018-10-16
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780691183039

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On Human Nature by Roger Scruton Pdf

A brief, radical defense of human uniqueness from acclaimed philosopher Roger Scruton In this short book, acclaimed writer and philosopher Roger Scruton presents an original and radical defense of human uniqueness. Confronting the views of evolutionary psychologists, utilitarian moralists, and philosophical materialists such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, Scruton argues that human beings cannot be understood simply as biological objects. We are not only human animals; we are also persons, in essential relation with other persons, and bound to them by obligations and rights. Scruton develops and defends his account of human nature by ranging widely across intellectual history, from Plato and Averroës to Darwin and Wittgenstein. The book begins with Kant’s suggestion that we are distinguished by our ability to say “I”—by our sense of ourselves as the centers of self-conscious reflection. This fact is manifested in our emotions, interests, and relations. It is the foundation of the moral sense, as well as of the aesthetic and religious conceptions through which we shape the human world and endow it with meaning. And it lies outside the scope of modern materialist philosophy, even though it is a natural and not a supernatural fact. Ultimately, Scruton offers a new way of understanding how self-consciousness affects the question of how we should live. The result is a rich view of human nature that challenges some of today’s most fashionable ideas about our species.

Author : Joseph Buchanan
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 1812
Category : Medicine
ISBN : HARVARD:HNPWQZ

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The Philosophy of Human Nature by Joseph Buchanan Pdf

"The chapters in this book examine the human body and human nature. The author explores the topics of excitement, sensory perception, perceptual stimulation, the human mind, truth, beliefs, the association of ideas, human emotions, feelings, volition, will, voluntary actions, anatomical and physiological systems, diversity of excitability, and the dependence and interdependence of sensory organs and systems. Animal comparisons are also included." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Author : John Laird
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 294 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2014-01-02
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781317950783

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Hume's Philosophy of Human Nature (Routledge Revivals) by John Laird Pdf

The essence of Hume’s eighteenth-century philosophy was that all the sciences were ‘dependent on the science of man’, and that the foundations of any such science need to rest on experience and observation. This title, first published in 1932, examines in detail how Hume interpreted ‘the science of man’ and how he applied his experimental methodology to humankind’s understanding, passions, social duties, economic activities, religious beliefs and secular history throughout his career. Particular attention is paid to the English, French and Latin sources that shaped Hume’s theories. This is a full and fascinating title, of particular relevance to students with an interest in the philosophy of Hume specifically, as well as the philosophy of human nature and the methodologies applied to its study more generally.

Author : Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan
Publisher : BoD – Books on Demand
Page : 342 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2022-01-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780718895730

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Emotional Amoral Egoism by Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan Pdf

What makes us who we are? Are we born good or evil? Do we have free will? What drives our behaviour and why? Can technology change what it means to be human? In this thoroughly revised second edition of Emotional Amoral Egoism, Professor Nayef Al-Rodhan demonstrates the impact of our innate predispositions on key issues, from conflict, inequality and transcultural understanding to Big Data, fake news and the social contract. However, it is the societies we live in and their governance structures that largely determine how we act on our innate predispositions. Consequently, Al-Rodhan proposes a new and sustainable good governance paradigm, which must reconcile the ever-present tension between the three attributes of human nature (‘Emotional Amoral Egoism’) and the nine critical needs of human dignity. This book is a perfect resource for enlightened readers, academics and policy makers interested in how our innate instincts and tendencies shape the world we live in, and how the interplay between neurophilosophy and policy can be harnessed for pragmatic and sustainable peace, security and prosperity solutions for all, at all times and under all circumstances.

Author : M. Tabak
Publisher : Springer
Page : 337 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2012-07-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781137043146

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Dialectics of Human Nature in Marx's Philosophy by M. Tabak Pdf

A scholarly exploration of Marx's thought without any favorable or critical ideological agendas, this book opposes the compartmentalization of Marx's thought into various competing doctrines, such as historical materialism, dialectical materialism, and different forms of economic determinism.

Author : Henry M'Cormac
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 688 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 1837
Category : Electronic
ISBN : OXFORD:555008130

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The philosophy of human nature, in its physical, of human nature, in its physical, intellectual, and moral relations by Henry M'Cormac Pdf

Author : Henry M'Cormac,Henry MacCormac
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 608 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 1837
Category : Ethics
ISBN : NYPL:33433070252741

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The Philosophy of Human Nature, in Its Physical, Intellectual, and Moral Relations by Henry M'Cormac,Henry MacCormac Pdf

Author : Matthew Calarco
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2021-12-28
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9780231550963

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The Boundaries of Human Nature by Matthew Calarco Pdf

Are animals capable of wonder? Can they be said to possess language and reason? What can animals teach us about how to live well? How can they help us to see the limitations of human civilization? Is it possible to draw firm distinctions between humans and animals? And how might asking and answering questions like these lead us to rethink human-animal relations in an age of catastrophic ecological destruction? In this accessible and engaging book, Matthew Calarco explores key issues in the philosophy of animals and their significance for our contemporary world. He leads readers on a spirited tour of historical and contemporary philosophy, ranging from Plato to Donna Haraway and from the Cynics to the Jains. Calarco unearths surprising insights about animals from a number of philosophers while also underscoring ways in which the philosophical tradition has failed to challenge the dogma of human-centeredness. Along the way, he indicates how mainstream Western philosophy is both complemented and challenged by non-Western traditions and noncanonical theories about animals. Throughout, Calarco uses examples from contemporary culture to illustrate how philosophical theories about animals are deeply relevant to our lives today. The Boundaries of Human Nature shows readers why philosophy can help transform not just the way we think about animals but also how we interact with them.

Author : Joseph Torchia, OP
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Page : 311 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2007-10-23
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780742579460

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Exploring Personhood by Joseph Torchia, OP Pdf

Exploring Personhood examines the metaphysical underpinnings of theories of human nature, personhood, and the self. The history of western philosophy provides the framework for broaching critical questions pertinent to these three topics. The book explores philosophical anthropology on its most foundational level, with a focus on the basic constituents of the unified self. The coverage of the work is broad in scope, moving from the Pre-Socratics to Postmodernism, critically assessing what transpired during the intervening 2500 year period, but with special attentiveness to the contributions of the Aristotelian/Thomistic tradition of inquiry. While each chapter can stand on its own, they collectively reveal a developing story that finds expression in diverse attempts to come to terms with what it means to be human, and how we understand ourselves as persons. This book is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of readers, from beginners to more advanced students.

Author : Janet Radcliffe Richards
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 340 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2005-07-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781134615827

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Human Nature After Darwin by Janet Radcliffe Richards Pdf

Human Nature After Darwin is an original investigation of the implications of Darwinism for our understanding of ourselves and our situation. It casts new light on current Darwinian controversies, also providing an introduction to philosophical reasoning and a range of philosophical problems. Janet Radcliffe Richards claims that many current battles about Darwinism are based on mistaken assumptions about the implications of the rival views. Her analysis of these implications provides a much-needed guide to the fundamentals of Darwinism and the so-called Darwin wars, as well as providing a set of philosophical techniques relevant to wide areas of moral and political debate. The lucid presentation makes the book an ideal introduction to both philosophy and Darwinism as well as a substantive contribution to topics of intense current controversy. It will be of interest to students of philosophy, science and the social sciences, and critical thinking.

Author : Joel J. Kupperman
Publisher : Hackett Publishing
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2010-09-15
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781603844543

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Theories of Human Nature by Joel J. Kupperman Pdf

Questions for Further Consideration and Recommended Further Reading, which follow each relevant chapter, encourage readers to think further and to craft their own perspectives.

Author : Robert Pasnau
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 516 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0521001897

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Thomas Aquinas on Human Nature by Robert Pasnau Pdf

A major new study of Aquinas and his central project: the understanding of human nature.