Book picks similar to
Reason and Responsibility: Readings in Some Basic Problems of Philosophy by Joel Feinberg
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The Logic of Scientific Discovery
Karl Popper - 1934
It remains the one of the most widely read books about science to come out of the twentieth century.(Note: the book was first published in 1934, in German, with the title Logik der Forschung. It was "reformulated" into English in 1959. See Wikipedia for details.)
College Physics [With Physics Now Free Online Access]
Raymond A. Serway - 1985
The authors include a broad range of contemporary applications to motivate students understanding of how physics works in the real world. In addition, new pedagogy, reflecting the findings of physics education research, has been added to help students improve their problem solving skills and conceptual understanding. The text's flexible, accessible, and focused presentation, coupled with extraordinary text/media integration through PhysicsNow, gives instructors and students the tools they need to succeed. This text, which covers the standard topics in classical physics and 20th century physics, is divided into six parts. Newtonian mechanics and the physics of fluids (Part I); heat and thermodynamics (Part II); wave motion and sound (Part III); electricity and magnetism (Part IV); properties of light and the field of geometric and wave optics (Part V); and an introduction to special relativity, quantum physics, and atomic and nuclear physics (Part VI).
Reason for the Hope Within
Michael J. Murray - 1998
Unfortunately, most of this excellent work has not reached general readers. Reason for the Hope Within was produced specifically to make available the best of contemporary Christian philosophy in a clear, accessible—and highly relevant—manner. Fourteen of America's rising Christian philosophers cover many of the traditional themes of Christian apologetics as well as topics of special relevance to today's world:the problem of evilthe possibility of miraclesthe existence of heaven and hellEastern religionsReligion and scienceChristianity and ethicsReason for the Hope Within provides readers with the most up-to-date resources for thinking about and defending the Christian faith. Contributors: Douglas Blount Robin Collins J. A. Cover William C. Davis Scott A. Davison Daniel Howard-Snyder Frances Howard-Snyder Trenton Merricks Caleb Miller Michael J. Murray Timothy O'Connor John O'Leary-Hawthorn Thomas D. Senor W. Christopher Stewart
The Analysis of Mind
Bertrand Russell - 2005
In The Analysis of Mind, one of his most influential and exciting books, Russell presents an intriguing reconciliation of the materialism of psychology with the antimaterialism of physics.This book established a new conception of the mind and provided one of the most original and interesting externalist accounts of knowledge. Drawing upon the writings of psychologists such as William James and John Watson, Russell offers a comprehensive treatment of such considerations as belief, desire, habit, memory, meaning, and causal law. His reasoning formed the foundation for many subsequent theories of mind, as well as a framework for his own later philosophical writings. It remains one of the most important works on the philosophy of the mind.
Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature
Richard Rorty - 1979
Richard Rorty, a Princeton professor who had contributed to the analytic tradition in philosophy, was now attempting to shrug off all the central problems with which it had long been preoccupied. After publication, the Press was barely able to keep up with demand, and the book has since gone on to become one of its all-time best-sellers in philosophy. Rorty argued that, beginning in the seventeenth century, philosophers developed an unhealthy obsession with the notion of representation. They compared the mind to a mirror that reflects reality. In their view, knowledge is concerned with the accuracy of these reflections, and the strategy employed to obtain this knowledge--that of inspecting, repairing, and polishing the mirror--belongs to philosophy. Rorty's book was a powerful critique of this imagery and the tradition of thought that it spawned. He argued that the questions about truth posed by Descartes, Kant, Hegel, and modern epistemologists and philosophers of language simply couldn't be answered and were, in any case, irrelevant to serious social and cultural inquiry. This stance provoked a barrage of criticism, but whatever the strengths of Rorty's specific claims, the book had a therapeutic effect on philosophy. It reenergized pragmatism as an intellectual force, steered philosophy back to its roots in the humanities, and helped to make alternatives to analytic philosophy a serious choice for young graduate students. Twenty-five years later, the book remains a must-read for anyone seriously concerned about the nature of philosophical inquiry and what philosophers can and cannot do to help us understand and improve the world.
Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions
Ron Larson - 1900
Two primary objectives guided the authors in the revision of this book: to develop precise, readable materials for students that clearly define and demonstrate concepts and rules of calculus; and to design comprehensive teaching resources for instructors that employ proven pedagogical techniques and save time. The Larson/Hostetler/Edwards Calculus program offers a solution to address the needs of any calculus course and any level of calculus student. Every edition from the first to the fourth of Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions, 4/e has made the mastery of traditional calculus skills a priority, while embracing the best features of new technology and, when appropriate, calculus reform ideas. Now, the Fourth Edition is part of the first calculus program to offer algorithmic homework and testing created in Maple so that answers can be evaluated with complete mathematical accuracy.
Cognitive Neuroscience
Michael S. Gazzaniga - 1998
This volume also features increased coverage of computational modelling, discussions of prominent methodological advances and an enhanced art programme.
Freedom and Neurobiology: Reflections on Free Will, Language, and Political Power
John Rogers Searle - 2005
We believe ourselves to be conscious, rational, social, ethical, language-using, political agents who possess free will. Yet we know we exist in a universe that consists of mindless, meaningless, unfree, nonrational, brute physical particles. How can we resolve the conflict between these two visions?In "Freedom and Neurobiology," the philosopher John Searle discusses the possibility of free will within the context of contemporary neurobiology. He begins by explaining the relationship between human reality and the more fundamental reality as described by physics and chemistry. Then he proposes a neurobiological resolution to the problem by demonstrating how various conceptions of free will have different consequences for the neurobiology of consciousness.In the second half of the book, Searle applies his theory of social reality to the problem of political power, explaining the role of language in the formation of our political reality. The institutional structures that organize, empower, and regulate our lives-money, property, marriage, government-consist in the assignment and collective acceptance of certain statuses to objects and people. Whether it is the president of the United States, a twenty-dollar bill, or private property, these entities perform functions as determined by their status in our institutional reality. Searle focuses on the political powers that exist within these systems of status functions and the way in which language constitutes them.Searle argues that consciousness and rationality are crucial to our existence and that they are the result of the biological evolution of our species. He addresses the problem of free will within the context of a neurobiological conception of consciousness and rationality, and he addresses the problem of political power within the context of this analysis.A clear and concise contribution to the free-will debate and the study of cognition, "Freedom and Neurobiology" is essential reading for students and scholars of the philosophy of mind.
An Introduction to Group Work Practice
Ronald W. Toseland - 1984
Students will receive a grounding in areas that vary from treatment to organizational and community settings. This edition also includes of new case studies, practice examples and guiding principles.
The Archaeology of Knowledge and The Discourse on Language
Michel Foucault - 1969
The Archaeology of Knowledge begins at the level of “things aid” and moves quickly to illuminate the connections between knowledge, language, and action in a style at once profound and personal. A summing up of Foucault’s own methodological assumptions, this book is also a first step toward a genealogy of the way we live now. Challenging, at times infuriating, it is an absolutely indispensable guide to one of the most innovative thinkers of our time.
Free Will Explained: How Science and Philosophy Converge to Create a Beautiful Illusion
Dan Barker - 2018
Do we have free will? And if we don’t, why do we feel as if we do? In a godless universe governed by impersonal laws of cause and effect, are you responsible for your actions? Former evangelical minister Dan Barker (God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction) unveils a novel solution to the question that has baffled scientists and philosophers for millennia. He outlines the concept of what he calls “harmonic free will,” a two-dimensional perspective that pivots the paradox on its axis to show that there is no single answer—both sides are right. Free will is a useful illusion: not a scientific, but a social truth.
The Holographic Universe
Michael Talbot - 1991
Now, two of the world's most eminent thinkers -- University of London physicists David Bohm, a former protege of Einstein's and one of the world's most respected quantum physicists, and Stanford neurophysiologist Karl Pribram, one of the architects of our modern understanding of the brain -- believe that the universe itself may be a giant hologram, quite literally a kind of image or construct created, at least in part, by the human mind. This remarkable new way of looking at the universe explains not only many of the unsolved puzzles of physics, but also such mysterious occurrences as telepathy, out-of-body and near death experiences, "lucid" dreams, and even religious and mystical experiences such as feelings of cosmic unity and miraculous healings.
Logic: A Very Short Introduction
Graham Priest - 2000
In this lively and accessible introduction, Graham Priest shows how wrong this conception is. He explores the philosophical roots of the subject, explaining how modern formal logic deals with issues ranging from the existence of God and the reality of time to paradoxes of probability and decision theory. Along the way, the basics of formal logic are explained in simple, non-technical terms, showing that logic is a powerful and exciting part of modern philosophy.About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
Free Will
Sam Harris - 2012
It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion.In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.
Introducing Consciousness
David Papineau - 1996
Along the way, readers will be introduced to zombies and Chinese Rooms, ghosts in machines and Schrodinger's cat.