Reflections on Human Nature

Reflections on Human Nature PDF Author: Arthur O. Lovejoy
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421432447
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Originally published in 1961. Arthur O. Lovejoy, beginning with his book The Great Chain of Being, helped usher in the discipline of the History of Ideas in America. In Reflections on Human Nature, Lovejoy devotes particular attention to influential figures such as Hobbes, Locke, Bishop Butler, and Mandeville, tracing developments and changes in the concept of human nature through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He also discusses the theory of human nature held by the founders of the American Constitution, giving special attention to James Madison and the "Federalist Papers."

Reflections on Human Nature

Reflections on Human Nature PDF Author: Arthur O. Lovejoy
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421432447
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Get Book Here

Book Description
Originally published in 1961. Arthur O. Lovejoy, beginning with his book The Great Chain of Being, helped usher in the discipline of the History of Ideas in America. In Reflections on Human Nature, Lovejoy devotes particular attention to influential figures such as Hobbes, Locke, Bishop Butler, and Mandeville, tracing developments and changes in the concept of human nature through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He also discusses the theory of human nature held by the founders of the American Constitution, giving special attention to James Madison and the "Federalist Papers."

Feral Children and Clever Animals

Feral Children and Clever Animals PDF Author: Douglas K. Candland
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195356144
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
In this provocative book, Douglas Candland shows that as we begin to understand the way animals and non-speaking humans "think," we hold up a mirror of sorts to our own mental world, and gain profound insights into human nature. Weaving together diaries, contemporary newspaper accounts, and his own enlightening commentary, Candland brings to life a series of extraordinary stories. He begins with a look at past efforts to civilize feral children. We meet Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron, now famous as the subject of a Truffaut film; Kaspar Hauser, raised in a cell, civilized, and then assassinated; and the Wolf Girls of India, found early this century huddled among wolf pups in a forest den (they were originally believed to be ghosts by superstitious villagers, who nearly shot them as they were being captured). In each case, it was hoped that the study of these children would help clarify the age-old nature/nurture debate, but, as Candland shows, so much of the information "revealed" was really only a projection of beliefs previously held by the investigating scientists. Candland then turns to "clever animals." We learn how the investigation of "Clever Hans," the German horse who could calculate square roots, proved to be a first step in the direction of behaviorism (researchers found that Hans was being tipped off by the subtle and unwitting body language of his owner and other observers, who would bend almost imperceptibly at the waist with every hoof beat, and stand erect when the correct count was reached). And Candland discusses the many attempts to communicate with our closest neighbor, the apes. We read of Richard Lynch Garner's 1892 experiment living with chimpanzees in Gabon (he taught one to say the French word "feu"), and of Gua, raised by W.N. and L.A. Kellogg alongside their own son Donald, and of the latest successes of teaching sign language to such precocious apes as Sarah, Sherman, Austin, and Koko. Throughout, Candland illuminates the boldest and most intriguing efforts yet to extend our world to that of our fellow creatures. And he shows that, in the end, our effort to "make contact" is a reflection of the way in which we as a species create and order our universe. Humans have long shown a wish to connect with the silent minds around them. In assembling and interpreting the compelling tales in this book, Candland offers us a new understanding not only of the animal kingdom, but of the very nature of humanity, and our place in the great chain of being.

Reflections on the Human Condition

Reflections on the Human Condition PDF Author: Eric Hoffer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
This collection of aphorisms and philosophical comment represents Eric Hoffer at his best. It offers stunning insights that strike home with startling frequency, often most uncomfortably; it has a fine unity, a well-defined theme. That some of the statements invite argument and questioning is inevitable and stimulating. Here is a book of the "wry epigram and the icy aphorism" which made his earlier books so appealing and gained for him a wide audience.--Publisher description.

The Western Illusion of Human Nature

The Western Illusion of Human Nature PDF Author: Marshall Sahlins
Publisher: Paradigm
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Book Description
Reflecting the decline in college courses on Western Civilization, Marshall Sahlins aims to accelerate the trend by reducing "Western Civ" to about two hours. He cites Nietzsche to the effect that deep issues are like cold baths; one should get into and out of them as quickly as possible. The deep issue here is the ancient Western specter of a presocial and antisocial human nature: a supposedly innate self-interest that is represented in our native folklore as the basis or nemesis of cultural order. Yet these Western notions of nature and culture ignore the one truly universal character of human sociality: namely, symbolically constructed kinship relations. Kinsmen are members of one another: they live each other's lives and die each other's deaths. But where the existence of the other is thus incorporated in the being of the self, neither interest, nor agency or even experience is an individual fact, let alone an egoistic disposition. "Sorry, beg your pardon," Sahlins concludes, Western society has been built on a perverse and mistaken idea of human nature.

Reflections on Human Development

Reflections on Human Development PDF Author: Mahbub ul Haq
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195356306
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This work explores a new development paradigm whose central focus is on human well-being. Increase in income is treated as an essential means, but not as the end of development, and certainly not as the sum of human life. Development policies and strategies are discussed which link economic growth with human lives in various societies. The book also analyzes the evolution of a new Human Development Index which is a far more comprehensive measure of socio-economic progress of nations than the traditional measure of Gross National Product. For the first time, a Political Freedom Index is also presented. The book offers a new vision of human security for the twenty-first century where real security is equated with security of people in their homes, their jobs, their communities, and their environment. The book discusses many concrete proposals in this context, including a global compact to overcome the worst aspects of global poverty within a decade, key reforms in the Bretton Woods institutions of World Bank and IMF, and establishment of a new Economic Security Council within the United Nations.

Dazzle Gradually

Dazzle Gradually PDF Author: Lynn Margulis
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603581367
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
At the crossroads of philosophy and science, the sometimes-dry topics of evolution and ecology come alive in this new collection of essays--many never before anthologized. Learn how technology may be a sort of second nature, how the systemic human fungus Candida albicans can lead to cravings for carrot cake and beer, how the presence of life may be why there's water on Earth, and many other fascinating facts. The essay "Metametazoa" presents perspectives on biology in a philosophical context, demonstrating how the intellectual librarian, pornographer, and political agitator Georges Bataille was influenced by Russian mineralogist Vladimir Vernadsky and how this led to his notion of the absence of meaning in the face of the sun--which later influenced Jacques Derrida, thereby establishing a causal chain of influence from the hard sciences to topics as abstract as deconstruction and post-modernism. In "Spirochetes Awake" the bizarre connection between syphilis and genius in the life of Friedrich Nietzsche is traced. The astonishing similarities of the Acquired-Immune-Deficiency-Syndrome symptoms with those of chronic spirochete infection, it is argued, contrast sharply with the lack of evidence that "HIV is the cause of AIDS". Throughout these readings we are dazzled by the intimacy and necessity of relationships between us and our other planetmates. In our ignorance as "civilized" people we dismiss, disdain, and deny our kinship with the only productive life forms that sustain this living planet.

The Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers PDF Author: Alexander Hamilton
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
ISBN: 1528785878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of “The Federalist Papers”, a collection of separate essays and articles compiled in 1788 by Alexander Hamilton. Following the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the governing doctrines and policies of the States lacked cohesion. “The Federalist”, as it was previously known, was constructed by American statesman Alexander Hamilton, and was intended to catalyse the ratification of the United States Constitution. Hamilton recruited fellow statesmen James Madison Jr., and John Jay to write papers for the compendium, and the three are known as some of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755–1804) was an American lawyer, journalist and highly influential government official. He also served as a Senior Officer in the Army between 1799-1800 and founded the Federalist Party, the system that governed the nation’s finances. His contributions to the Constitution and leadership made a significant and lasting impact on the early development of the nation of the United States.

Powers and Prospects

Powers and Prospects PDF Author: Noam Chomsky
Publisher: Haymarket Books+ORM
ISBN: 1608464431
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
The renowned linguist and political activist offers penetrating reflections on language, human nature, and foreign policy in this essay collection. From linguistics to the Middle East; foreign affairs to the role of the media; and intellectual responsibility to the situation in East Timor, Noam Chomsky offers a wide-ranging exploration of the issues and ideas that have concerned him most deeply throughout his distinguished career. These essays are drawn from a series of lectures Chomsky gave in Australia in 1995, under the auspices of the East Timor Relief Association. Examining the interplay between language, human nature and foreign policy, Powers and Prospects provides a scathing critique of government policy orthodoxy. Moving beyond criticism of the status quo, Chomsky then outlines other paths that can lead to better understanding and more constructive action.

Reflections on Time and Politics

Reflections on Time and Politics PDF Author: Nathan Widder
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271033940
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
"Explores the nature of time and its implications for questions of politics, ethics, and the self. Shows how a conception of time that breaks with common sense notions of chronological order can help us rethink the understandings of identity, difference, power, resistance, and overcoming"--Provided by publisher.

Mirroring People

Mirroring People PDF Author: Marco Iacoboni
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429990759
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
What accounts for the remarkable ability to get inside another person's head—to know what they're thinking and feeling? "Mind reading" is the very heart of what it means to be human, creating a bridge between self and others that is fundamental to the development of culture and society. But until recently, scientists didn't understand what in the brain makes it possible. This has all changed in the last decade. Marco Iacoboni, a leading neuroscientist whose work has been covered in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal, explains the groundbreaking research into mirror neurons, the "smart cells" in our brain that allow us to understand others. From imitation to morality, from learning to addiction, from political affiliations to consumer choices, mirror neurons seem to have properties that are relevant to all these aspects of social cognition. As The New York Times reports: "The discovery is shaking up numerous scientific disciplines, shifting the understanding of culture, empathy, philosophy, language, imitation, autism and psychotherapy." Mirroring People is the first book for the general reader on this revolutionary new science.