Determinism, Death, and Meaning

Determinism, Death, and Meaning PDF Author: Stephen Maitzen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000507963
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
This book offers new arguments for determinism. It draws novel and surprising consequences from determinism for our attitudes toward such things as death, regret, grief, and the meaning of life. The book argues that rationalism is the right attitude to take toward reality. It then shows that rationalism implies determinism and that determinism has surprising and far-reaching consequences. The author contends that the existence of all of humanity almost certainly depends on the precise time and manner of your death and mine; that purely retrospective regret, relief, gratitude, and grief are irrational for all but those who hold extreme values; and that everyone’s life has an unending impact on the future and thereby achieves the strongest kind of meaning that it makes sense to desire. Written in a direct and accessible style, Determinism, Death, and Meaning will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and value theory, as well as general readers with a serious interest in these topics.

Determinism, Death, and Meaning

Determinism, Death, and Meaning PDF Author: Stephen Maitzen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000507963
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book offers new arguments for determinism. It draws novel and surprising consequences from determinism for our attitudes toward such things as death, regret, grief, and the meaning of life. The book argues that rationalism is the right attitude to take toward reality. It then shows that rationalism implies determinism and that determinism has surprising and far-reaching consequences. The author contends that the existence of all of humanity almost certainly depends on the precise time and manner of your death and mine; that purely retrospective regret, relief, gratitude, and grief are irrational for all but those who hold extreme values; and that everyone’s life has an unending impact on the future and thereby achieves the strongest kind of meaning that it makes sense to desire. Written in a direct and accessible style, Determinism, Death, and Meaning will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and value theory, as well as general readers with a serious interest in these topics.

Our Stories

Our Stories PDF Author: John Martin Fischer
Publisher:
ISBN: 0195374959
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
This is a collection of essays by noted philosopher John Martin Fischer that seeks to show important connections between the metaphysics of death and free will. John Martin Fischer defends the commonsense views that death can be bad and immortal life can be good, and argues that in acting freely, we transform our lives so that our stories matter.

Determinism, Death, and Meaning

Determinism, Death, and Meaning PDF Author: Stephen Maitzen
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000507947
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
This book offers new arguments for determinism. It draws novel and surprising consequences from determinism for our attitudes toward such things as death, regret, grief, and the meaning of life. The book argues that rationalism is the right attitude to take toward reality. It then shows that rationalism implies determinism and that determinism has surprising and far-reaching consequences. The author contends that the existence of all of humanity almost certainly depends on the precise time and manner of your death and mine; that purely retrospective regret, relief, gratitude, and grief are irrational for all but those who hold extreme values; and that everyone’s life has an unending impact on the future and thereby achieves the strongest kind of meaning that it makes sense to desire. Written in a direct and accessible style, Determinism, Death, and Meaning will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and value theory, as well as general readers with a serious interest in these topics.

Free Will and Determinism

Free Will and Determinism PDF Author: Clifford Williams
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 9780915144778
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
"Nicely conceived, very clearly written. . . . A high level of philosophic substance and sophistication." --David M. Mowry, SUNY at Plattsburgh

Birth and Death of Meaning

Birth and Death of Meaning PDF Author: Ernest Becker
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439118426
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
Uses the disciplines of psychology, anthropology, sociology and psychiatry to explain what makes people act the way they do.

Deep Control

Deep Control PDF Author: John Martin Fischer
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0199742987
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
This collection of essays puts forth the idea that moral responsibility is associated with "deep control," what the author defines as the middle ground between the two extreme positions of "superficial control" and "total control."

What Does It All Mean?

What Does It All Mean? PDF Author: Thomas Nagel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199878889
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 108

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Book Description
In this cogent and accessible introduction to philosophy, the distinguished author of Mortal Questions and The View From Nowhere sets forth the central problems of philosophical inquiry for the beginning student. Arguing that the best way to learn about philosophy is to think about its questions directly, Thomas Nagel considers possible solutions to nine problems--knowledge of the world beyond our minds, knowledge of other minds, the mind-body problem, free will, the basis of morality, right and wrong, the nature of death, the meaning of life, and the meaning of words. Although he states his own opinions clearly, Nagel leaves these fundamental questions open, allowing students to entertain other solutions and encouraging them to think for themselves.

Free Will

Free Will PDF Author: Sam Harris
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451683405
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of The End of Faith, a thought-provoking, "brilliant and witty" (Oliver Sacks) look at the notion of free will—and the implications that it is an illusion. A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. 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.

Freedom and Determinism

Freedom and Determinism PDF Author: Joseph Keim Campbell
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262532570
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
A state-of-the-art collection of previously unpublished essays on the topics of determinism, free will, moral responsibility, and action theory, written by some of the most important figures in these fields of study.

Groundwork for a New Kind of African Metaphysics

Groundwork for a New Kind of African Metaphysics PDF Author: Aribiah David Attoe
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030911098
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 133

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Book Description
It is not far-fetched to say that much of what is termed “African metaphysics” remains a traditional affair, without the sort of critical analysis that sheds away the burden of myths and ethnocentric rigidity. African ideas about the nature of being, God, causality, death, etc., have largely remained the same and unchallenged, mainly due to the hesitancy of some African scholars to question these suppositions or build beyond them. In this book, Aribiah David Attoe presents a unified African metaphysics that first interrogates important notions held by many traditional African thinkers, and then builds upon them to propose a largely materialistic account of African metaphysics. The book re-imagines and reconstructs the idea of God, being, causality and death in African metaphysics, tackling some of the problems associated with these concepts in African thought. It also opens up new vistas of thought, while engaging and encouraging African metaphysicians to explore a previously ignored perspective.