Sources of Desire

Sources of Desire PDF Author: James Oldfield
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443843210
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Get Book Here

Book Description
Though Aristotle is universally acknowledged as having a mighty influence on the history of philosophy, large parts of his writings are often thought to be interesting to nobody except the historian. This includes those treatises known as the theoretical works (preeminently the Metaphysics, Physics, De Anima, and Posterior Analytics). However, the contributions in this book show that these old treatises are still profound resources for philosophical inquiry. Not only do they inform us about the origins of our ideas, but equally they express insights that always stand in need of reinterpretation, and thus challenge our understanding. That challenge to understanding – and ultimately the desire for self-understanding, the desire to know what stands at the source of thinking itself – this was at the heart of the Greek ideal of philosophy, and some would say that this is still the task of the discipline. The essays included here cover a wide range of topics, including Aristotle’s treatment of non-contradiction, the tension between his conceptions of knowledge and being, the complexity of the term ‘potency,’ and the relation between psychology and physics.

Sources of Desire

Sources of Desire PDF Author: James Oldfield
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443843210
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Get Book Here

Book Description
Though Aristotle is universally acknowledged as having a mighty influence on the history of philosophy, large parts of his writings are often thought to be interesting to nobody except the historian. This includes those treatises known as the theoretical works (preeminently the Metaphysics, Physics, De Anima, and Posterior Analytics). However, the contributions in this book show that these old treatises are still profound resources for philosophical inquiry. Not only do they inform us about the origins of our ideas, but equally they express insights that always stand in need of reinterpretation, and thus challenge our understanding. That challenge to understanding – and ultimately the desire for self-understanding, the desire to know what stands at the source of thinking itself – this was at the heart of the Greek ideal of philosophy, and some would say that this is still the task of the discipline. The essays included here cover a wide range of topics, including Aristotle’s treatment of non-contradiction, the tension between his conceptions of knowledge and being, the complexity of the term ‘potency,’ and the relation between psychology and physics.

The Government of Desire

The Government of Desire PDF Author: Miguel de Beistegui
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022654740X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
Liberalism, Miguel de Beistegui argues in The Government of Desire, is best described as a technique of government directed towards the self, with desire as its central mechanism. Whether as economic interest, sexual drive, or the basic longing for recognition, desire is accepted as a core component of our modern self-identities, and something we ought to cultivate. But this has not been true in all times and all places. For centuries, as far back as late antiquity and early Christianity, philosophers believed that desire was an impulse that needed to be suppressed in order for the good life, whether personal or collective, ethical or political, to flourish. Though we now take it for granted, desire as a constitutive dimension of human nature and a positive force required a radical transformation, which coincided with the emergence of liberalism. By critically exploring Foucault’s claim that Western civilization is a civilization of desire, de Beistegui crafts a provocative and original genealogy of this shift in thinking. He shows how the relationship between identity, desire, and government has been harnessed and transformed in the modern world, shaping our relations with others and ourselves, and establishing desire as an essential driving force for the constitution of a new and better social order. But is it? The Government of Desire argues that this is precisely what a contemporary politics of resistance must seek to overcome. By questioning the supposed universality of a politics based on recognition and the economic satisfaction of desire, de Beistegui raises the crucial question of how we can manage to be less governed today, and explores contemporary forms of counter-conduct. ?Drawing on a host of thinkers from philosophy, political theory, and psychoanalysis, and concluding with a call for a sovereign and anarchic form of desire, The Government of Desire is a groundbreaking account of our freedom and unfreedom, of what makes us both governed and ungovernable.

On Desire

On Desire PDF Author: William Braxton Irvine
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195327071
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Get Book Here

Book Description
Irvine looks at what modern science can tell about desire--what happens in the brain when one desires something and how animals evolved particular desires. He suggests that people who can convince themselves to want what they already have dramatically enhance their happiness.

On Desire

On Desire PDF Author: William B. Irvine
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199839085
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Get Book Here

Book Description
A married person falls deeply in love with someone else. A man of average income feels he cannot be truly happy unless he owns an expensive luxury car. A dieter has an irresistible craving for ice cream. Desires often come to us unbidden and unwanted, and they can have a dramatic impact, sometimes changing the course of our lives. In On Desire, William B. Irvine takes us on a wide-ranging tour of our impulses, wants, and needs, showing us where these feelings come from and how we can try to rein them in. Spicing his account with engaging observations by writers like Seneca, Tolstoy, and Freud, Irvine considers the teachings of Buddhists, Hindus, the Amish, Shakers, and Catholic saints, as well as those of ancient Greek and Roman and modern European philosophers. Irvine also looks at what modern science can tell us about desire--such as what happens in the brain when we desire something and how animals evolved particular desires--and he advances a new theory about how desire itself evolved. Irvine also suggests that at the same time that we gained the ability to desire, we were "programmed" to find some things more desirable than others. Irvine concludes that the best way to attain lasting happiness is not to change the world around us or our place in it, but to change ourselves. If we can convince ourselves to want what we already have, we can dramatically enhance our happiness. Brimming with wisdom and practical advice, On Desire offers a thoughtful approach to controlling unwanted passions and attaining a more meaningful life.

The Evolution of Desire

The Evolution of Desire PDF Author: David M. Buss
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465093302
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 455

Get Book Here

Book Description
A “drop-dead shocker” (Washington Post Book World) that uses evolutionary psychology to explain human mating and the mysteries of love If we all want love, why is there so much conflict in our most cherished relationships? To answer this question, we must look into our evolutionary past, argues prominent psychologist David M. Buss. Based one of the largest studies of human mating ever undertaken, encompassing more than 10,000 people of all ages from thirty-seven cultures worldwide, The Evolution of Desire is the first work to present a unified theory of human mating behavior. Drawing on a wide range of examples of mating behavior — from lovebugs to elephant seals, from the Yanomamö tribe of Venezuela to online dating apps — Buss reveals what women want, what men want, and why their desires radically differ. Love has a central place in human sexual psychology, but conflict, competition, and manipulation also pervade human mating — something we must confront in order to control our own mating destiny. Updated to reflect the very latest scientific research on human mating, this definitive edition of this classic work of evolutionary psychology explains the powerful forces that shape our most intimate desires.

Vagaries of Desire: A Collection of Philosophical Essays

Vagaries of Desire: A Collection of Philosophical Essays PDF Author: Timo Airaksinen
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004410309
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 235

Get Book Here

Book Description
In Vagaries of Desire, Timo Airaksinen develops a new philosophical account of desire understood as mental state that focuses on a desirable possible world. Literary and philosophical themes, including sexuality, are discussed in terms of their metaphoric and metonymic features.

The Science of Desire

The Science of Desire PDF Author: Dean H. Hamer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description
Front-page headlines last July reported the discovery of a gene marker for male homosexuality. Now the scientist who made the discovery describes his history-making research and the far-reaching implications of this first genetic link to behavior.

The Desire of Ages

The Desire of Ages PDF Author: Ellen G. White
Publisher: Bytes 4 the Heart
ISBN:
Category : Seventh-Day Adventists
Languages : en
Pages : 886

Get Book Here

Book Description


Practical Conflicts

Practical Conflicts PDF Author: Peter Baumann
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521012102
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this collection a distinguished roster of philosophers analyse the diverse forms of practical conflict.

The Strategy of Desire

The Strategy of Desire PDF Author: Ernest Dichter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351473166
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 314

Get Book Here

Book Description
Ernest Dichter is famous as one of the founding fathers of motivational research. In applying the social sciences to a variety of problems, Dichter emphasized new approaches to problem solving, advertising, politics, and selling, and issues of social significance such as urban renewal, productivity, and drug addiction. As an author and corporate adviser, he used psychoanalytic theory and depth interviewing to uncover unconsciously held attitudes and beliefs. He goal was to help explain why people act the way they do and how positive behavioral change might be achieved. In The Strategy of Desire, Dichter both counters the argument that motivational research amounts to manipulation, and shows how the understanding and modification of human behavior is necessary for progress. Dichter's survey and analysis of behavior ranges widely. He examines everyday matters of product choice, as well as such broad civic issues as voter participation, religious toleration, and racial understanding. He shows that in order to achieve socially constructive goals, it is necessary to move beyond theological exhortation, which takes an unrealistic view of human morality, as well as beyond the limits of empirically oriented social science research, which only deals in appearances. Dichter sees human action as rooted in irrational and often unconscious motivation, which can usually be uncovered if the correct approach is used. In his consumer research, he analyzes the nonutilitarian importance of objects in everyday life, as well as how products and materials become bound with emotional resonance or acquire different meanings from different contexts or points of view. Dichter shows that success depends on the satisfaction of desires and a movement beyond the ethic of work and saving. Arguing that in an increasingly technological world, progress and social harmony are materially based, he advocates a morality of the good life in which prosperity and leisure lead to greater h