Waubonsee Community College

The brain and the meaning of life, Paul Thagard

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. [255]-270) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The brain and the meaning of life

bibliography

416717721

Paul Thagard

"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."--BOOK JACKET

We all need wisdom -- Why live? -- Sources of wisdom -- Philosophical approaches -- The relevance of minds and brains -- Looking ahead -- 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 -- Minds are brains -- The brain revolution -- Evidence that minds are brains -- Evidence for dualism -- Objections to mind-brain identity -- Who are you? -- How brains know reality -- Reality and its discontents -- Knowing objects -- Appearance and reality -- Concepts -- Knowledge beyond perception -- Coherence in the brain -- Coherence and truth -- 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 -- 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 -- Why life is worth living -- The meaning of life -- Nihilism -- Happiness -- Goals and meaning -- Love -- Work -- Play -- Needs and hopes -- Wants versus needs -- Vital needs -- How love, work, and play satisfy needs -- Balance, coherence, and change -- Hope versus despair -- Ethical brains -- Ethical decisions -- Conscience and moral intuitions -- Mirror neurons -- Empathy -- Moral motivation -- Ethical theory -- Moral objectivity -- Responsibility -- 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