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Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > Philosophy of science
The Oxford Handbook of German Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century
is the first collective critical study of this important period in
intellectual history. The volume is divided into four parts. The
first part explores individual philosophers, including Fichte,
Hegel, Schopenhauer, Marx, and Nietzsche, amongst other great
thinkers of the period. The second addresses key philosophical
movements: Idealism, Romanticism, Neo-Kantianism, and
Existentialism. The essays in the third part engage with different
areas of philosophy that received particular attention at this
time, including philosophy of nature, philosophy of mind,
philosophy of language, philosophy of history, and hermeneutics.
Finally, the contributors turn to discuss central philosophical
topics, from skepticism to mat-erialism, from dialectics to ideas
of historical and cultural Otherness, and from the reception of
antiquity to atheism. Written by a team of leading experts, this
Handbook will be an essential resource for anyone working in the
area and will lead the direction of future research.
In this landmark new book, Iain McGilchrist addresses some of the oldest and hardest questions humanity faces – ones that, however, have a practical urgency for all of us today. Who are we? What is the world? How can we understand consciousness, matter, space and time? Is the cosmos without purpose or value? Can we really neglect the sacred and divine?
In doing so, he argues that we have become enslaved to an account of things dominated by the brain’s left hemisphere, one that blinds us to an awe-inspiring reality that is all around us, had we but eyes to see it. He suggests that in order to understand ourselves and the world we need science and intuition, reason and imagination, not just one or two; that they are in any case far from being in conflict; and that the brain’s right hemisphere plays the most important part in each. And he shows us how to recognise the ‘signature’ of the left hemisphere in our thinking, so as to avoid making decisions that bring disaster in their wake.
Following the paths of cutting-edge neurology, philosophy and physics, he reveals how each leads us to a similar vision of the world, one that is both profound and beautiful – and happens to be in line with the deepest traditions of human wisdom. It is a vision that returns the world to life, and us to a better way of living in it: one we must embrace if we are to survive.
What is consciousness? How does the subjective character of
consciousness fit into an objective world? How can there be a
science of consciousness? In this sequel to his groundbreaking and
controversial The Conscious Mind, David Chalmers develops a unified
framework that addresses these questions and many others. Starting
with a statement of the "hard problem" of consciousness, Chalmers
builds a positive framework for the science of consciousness and a
nonreductive vision of the metaphysics of consciousness. He replies
to many critics of The Conscious Mind, and then develops a positive
theory in new directions. The book includes original accounts of
how we think and know about consciousness, of the unity of
consciousness, and of how consciousness relates to the external
world. Along the way, Chalmers develops many provocative ideas: the
"consciousness meter", the Garden of Eden as a model of perceptual
experience, and The Matrix as a guide to the deepest philosophical
problems about consciousness and the external world. This book will
be required reading for anyone interested in the problems of mind,
brain, consciousness, and reality.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Theories of Emotion is a philosophical introduction to the most
influential theories of emotion of the past 60 years in philosophy,
psychology, and biology. This multi-disciplinary approach provides
the reader with a one-stop shop for encountering the key debates
and cutting-edge ideas in what is becoming a central focus of
contemporary thought. An introductory chapter on definitions of
emotion is followed by three main sections on the way emotions are
expressed, subjectively experienced, and related to action and
motivation. This accessible but probing approach integrates
philosophical analysis with innovative research in psychology and
cognitive science, contextualizing current debates in the history
of ideas from Darwin to pragmatism. Each section is introduced by a
detailed illustration of a foundational thinker's work on emotion
(Charles Darwin, William James, and John Dewey, respectively),
showing how their insights and discoveries have shaped current
views and suggesting ways in which they might still enrich
contemporary approaches.
This book introduces the reader to the exciting new field of plant
philosophy and takes it in a new direction to ask: what does it
mean to say that plants are sexed? Do 'male' and 'female' really
mean the same when applied to humans, trees, fungi and algae? Are
the zoological categories of sex really adequate for understanding
the - uniquely 'dibiontic' - life cycle of plants? Vegetal Sex
addresses these questions through a detailed analysis of major
moments in the history of plant sex, from Aristotle to the modern
day. Tracing the transformations in the analogy between animals and
plants that characterize this history, it shows how the analogy
still functions in contemporary botany and asks: what would a
non-zoocentric, plant-centred philosophy of vegetal sex be like? By
showing how philosophy and botany have been and still are
inextricably entwined, Vegetal Sex allows us to think vegetal being
and, perhaps, to recognize the vegetal in us all.
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Realism
(Hardcover)
Uwe C Koepke
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R689
R627
Discovery Miles 6 270
Save R62 (9%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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This open access collection brings together a team of leading
scholars and rising stars to consider what experimental philosophy
of medicine is and can be. While experimental philosophy of science
is an established field, attempts to tackle issues in philosophy of
medicine from an experimental angle are still surprisingly scarce.
A team of interdisciplinary scholars demonstrate how we can make
progress by integrating a variety of methods from experimental
philosophy, including experiments, sociological surveys,
simulations, as well as history and philosophy of science, in order
to yield meaningful results about the core questions in medicine.
They focus on concepts central to philosophy of medicine and
medical practice, such as death, pain, disease and disorder,
advance directives, medical explanation, disability and informed
consent. Presenting empirical findings and providing a crucial
foundation for future work in this dynamic field, this collection
explores new ways for philosophers to cooperate with scientists and
reveals the value of these collaborations for both philosophy and
medicine. The eBook editions of this book are available open access
under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open
access was funded by the European Research Council Starting Grant.
What is morality? Do we have free will? Are there any limits to
what the human mind can understand? How is it that humans speak?
Why do we die? What is it that transcendental meditation
transcends?Reverse Engineering God proposes rational and
science-based answers to these and many other related and similar
questions. It does so in a series of short 'stories.' Each story
presents one question, describes the scientific data available for
its solution, shows how these data, when combined with logical
inferences, can be used to answer the question, and points to its
relation with other questions.
Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so
effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us-and to
make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Recent
years have seen an eruption of concern as the field of machine
learning advances. When the systems we attempt to teach will not,
in the end, do what we want or what we expect, ethical and
potentially existential risks emerge. Researchers call this the
alignment problem. Systems cull resumes until, years later, we
discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide
bail and parole-and appear to assess Black and White defendants
differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application,
or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And as
autonomous vehicles share our streets, we are increasingly putting
our lives in their hands. The mathematical and computational models
driving these changes range in complexity from something that can
fit on a spreadsheet to a complex system that might credibly be
called "artificial intelligence." They are steadily replacing both
human judgment and explicitly programmed software. In best-selling
author Brian Christian's riveting account, we meet the alignment
problem's "first-responders," and learn their ambitious plan to
solve it before our hands are completely off the wheel. In a
masterful blend of history and on-the ground reporting, Christian
traces the explosive growth in the field of machine learning and
surveys its current, sprawling frontier. Readers encounter a
discipline finding its legs amid exhilarating and sometimes
terrifying progress. Whether they-and we-succeed or fail in solving
the alignment problem will be a defining human story. The Alignment
Problem offers an unflinching reckoning with humanity's biases and
blind spots, our own unstated assumptions and often contradictory
goals. A dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, it takes a hard look
not only at our technology but at our culture-and finds a story by
turns harrowing and hopeful.
The literary arts represent and provoke experiences of
understanding and emotion, and this open access study examines how
the practical pursuit of well-being in healthcare reveals purposes
at the core of our engagements with and understanding of literature
itself. During the past twenty years, much admirable work in the
"health humanities" has focused upon what studies of literature
contribute to the understandings and the practical work-the
"worldly work"-of healthcare. Such a project aims at developing
healthcare practitioners who bring greater care to those who come
to them ailing or in fear or faced with terrible suffering.
Literary Studies and Well-Being turns this inside out by examining
the intergenerational caretaking of healthcare in a manner which
allows us to comprehend the nature and discipline of literary
studies in new ways. The ebook editions of this book are available
open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on
bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The University
of Oklahoma.
Throughout history, humans have dreamed of knowing the reason for the existence of the universe. In The Mind of God, physicist Paul Davies explores whether modern science can provide the key that will unlock this last secret. In his quest for an ultimate explanation, Davies reexamines the great questions that have preoccupied humankind for millennia, and in the process explores, among other topics, the origin and evolution of the cosmos, the nature of life and consciousness, and the claim that our universe is a kind of gigantic computer. Charting the ways in which the theories of such scientists as Newton, Einstein, and more recently Stephen Hawking and Richard Feynman have altered our conception of the physical universe. Davies puts these scientists' discoveries into context with the writings of philosophers such as Plato. Descartes, Hume, and Kant. His startling conclusion is that the universe is "no minor byproduct of mindless, purposeless forces. We are truly meant to be here." By the means of science, we can truly see into the mind of God.
Mojca Kuplen connects 18th-century German aesthetics to
contemporary theories of self-knowledge in order to highlight the
unique cognitive value of art. She does this through revisiting
Kant’s account of aesthetic ideas, and demonstrating how works of
art can increase our understanding of abstract concepts whilst
promoting self-knowledge. Addressing some of the most fundamental
questions in contemporary aesthetics and philosophy of art, this
study covers the value and importance of art, the relationship
between art and beauty, the role of knowledge in art and the
criteria for artistic excellence. It offers an insight into
problems related to the apprehension of meaning and the cognitive
processing of abstract representations that have been of interest
to contemporary cognitive science. Kant's Aesthetic Cognitivism
presents these arguments in a lucid and wide-ranging engagement
with the history of aesthetics and current academic debates to
understand what art is and why it is valuable.
This book is a theoretical inquiry into alternative pedagogies that
challenge current standardized practices in the field of science
education. Through Mandy Hoffen, a fictional persona, Dana
McCullough, the author, explores how stories of Henrietta Lacks
become part of a conspiracy to change science education. Mandy
Hoffen, however, never expected to find herself in the middle of a
conspiracy. As a science teacher of 20 plus years, she worked
diligently to meet the needs of her charges, who are currently
ninth and tenth grade biology students in an age of standardized
testing. The author also creates imaginary dialogues which serve as
the theoretical framework for each chapter. Each chapter unfolds in
a form of a play with imaginary settings and events that bring
Henrietta Lacks back from the grave to participate in conversations
about science, society, and social justice. The imaginary
conversations are based on the author's experiences in graduate
courses, direct quotations from philosophers of science, historians
of science, science educators, curriculum theorists, and stories of
students in their study of Henrietta Lacks in a high school biology
classroom. The play describes the journey of a graduate
student/high school teacher as she researches the importance of the
philosophy of science, history of science, science curriculum and
social justice in science education. Through reflections on
fictional conversations, stories of Henrietta Lacks are examined
and described in multiple settings, beginning in an imaginary
academic meeting, and ending with student conversations in a
classroom. Each setting provides a space for conversations wherein
participants explore their personal connections with science,
science curriculum, issues of social justice related to science,
and Henrietta Lacks. This book will be of interest to graduate
students, scholars, and undergraduates in curriculum studies,
educational foundations, and teacher education, and those
interested in alternative research methodologies. This is the first
book to intentionally address the stories of Henrietta Lacks and
their importance in the field of curriculum studies, science
studies, and current standardized high school science curriculum.
Stunning advances in digital technology have given us a new wave of
disarmingly human-like AI systems. Chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude and
Gemini put the knowledge of all the world’s experts at our fingertips,
and can generate meaningful sentences, equations and computer code. The
march of this new technology is set to upturn our economies, challenge
our democracies, and refashion society in unpredictable ways. We can
expect these AI systems to soon be making autonomous decisions on the
user’s behalf, with transformative impact on everything we do. It is
vital we understand how they work. Can AI systems ‘think’, ‘know’ and
‘understand’? Could they manipulate or deceive you, and if so, what
might they make you do? Whose interests do they ultimately represent?
And when will they be able to move beyond words and take actions for
themselves in the real world?
To answer these questions, neuroscientist and AI researcher Christopher
Summerfield explains how these strange new minds work. He charts the
evolution of AI, from the earliest inklings about thinking machines in
the seventeenth century to today’s gargantuan deep neural networks. The
resulting book is the most accessible, up-to-date and authoritative
exploration of this radical new technology. Ultimately, armed with an
understanding of AI’s mysterious inner workings, we can begin to
grapple with the existential question of our age: can we look forward
to a technological utopia, or are we in the process of writing
ourselves out of history?
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