A Wild West of the Mind

A Wild West of the Mind PDF Author: George Sher
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197564674
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 145

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Book Description
A trip through someone else's mind would not be a pleasant journey. Even if you did not stumble across anything truly abhorrent, you could hardly avoid a good deal of ugly thoughts - hostile attitudes towards friends, negative stereotypes of groups, plenty of contempt, and a whole host ofshocking fantasies. But what is our moral relationship to our ideas? Are we justified in morally condemning ugly thoughts? In A Wild West of the Mind, George Sher argues for the provocative thesis that the realm of the purely mental is a "morality-free zone." Within that realm, no thoughts orattitudes are forbidden or required. Morality properly constrains our actions in a world full of others, but in a sense, our thoughts are off-limits-each person's individual subjectivity is boundless.Sher begins by arguing against a reigning assumption in much of moral philosophy that morality has a bearing not only on how we act, but also on what we think and feel. On Sher's view, we cannot subject private thoughts to moral evaluation or constraint precisely because they are confined to themental sphere. Actions are morally condemnable when they do harm to others; by definition, though it may motivate a harmful action, a thought in itself cannot do harm. This does not mean, of course, that our mental states are not subject to any evaluations whatsoever. Our beliefs can be irrationaland our desires can be vicious, reflecting badly on our character, but we cannot say they are "wrong" or impermissible as such. From here, Sher presents a positive defense of "free thought," one that posits that constraining our mental lives with moral proscriptions poses a severe threat to ourmental freedom, one that can significantly impoverish our lives. Broad in scope and tightly argued, this book will have much to offer philosophers working in ethics, free will, and epistemology.

A Wild West of the Mind

A Wild West of the Mind PDF Author: George Sher
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197564674
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 145

Get Book Here

Book Description
A trip through someone else's mind would not be a pleasant journey. Even if you did not stumble across anything truly abhorrent, you could hardly avoid a good deal of ugly thoughts - hostile attitudes towards friends, negative stereotypes of groups, plenty of contempt, and a whole host ofshocking fantasies. But what is our moral relationship to our ideas? Are we justified in morally condemning ugly thoughts? In A Wild West of the Mind, George Sher argues for the provocative thesis that the realm of the purely mental is a "morality-free zone." Within that realm, no thoughts orattitudes are forbidden or required. Morality properly constrains our actions in a world full of others, but in a sense, our thoughts are off-limits-each person's individual subjectivity is boundless.Sher begins by arguing against a reigning assumption in much of moral philosophy that morality has a bearing not only on how we act, but also on what we think and feel. On Sher's view, we cannot subject private thoughts to moral evaluation or constraint precisely because they are confined to themental sphere. Actions are morally condemnable when they do harm to others; by definition, though it may motivate a harmful action, a thought in itself cannot do harm. This does not mean, of course, that our mental states are not subject to any evaluations whatsoever. Our beliefs can be irrationaland our desires can be vicious, reflecting badly on our character, but we cannot say they are "wrong" or impermissible as such. From here, Sher presents a positive defense of "free thought," one that posits that constraining our mental lives with moral proscriptions poses a severe threat to ourmental freedom, one that can significantly impoverish our lives. Broad in scope and tightly argued, this book will have much to offer philosophers working in ethics, free will, and epistemology.

A Wild West of the Mind

A Wild West of the Mind PDF Author: George Sher
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197564690
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Book Description
Can unexpressed thoughts be morally wrong? Are people subject to moral condemnation not only for their malicious, biased, and cruel actions, but also for their private malice, biased beliefs, and ugly fantasies? Although many would answer "yes," George Sher argues in A Wild West of the Mind that none of the main approaches to morality support this view and that to accept it would be to relinquish an essential aspect of our mental freedom. To preserve that freedom, we must allow our beliefs to follow the evidence wherever it leads and must give our private feelings, attitudes, and fantasies free rein. As so understood, the realm of the purely mental is a morality-free zone, one within which no thoughts or attitudes are either forbidden or required. Even when our beliefs are irrational or repugnant and our desires reflect badly on our character, it is never morally wrong for us to have them. A Wild West of the Mind advances a provocative thesis of normative ethics and offers a powerful defense of freedom of mind. Broad in scope and tightly argued, the book will have much to offer philosophers working in ethics, free will, and epistemology.

Which Way to the Wild West?

Which Way to the Wild West? PDF Author: Steve Sheinkin
Publisher: Flash Point
ISBN: 1429964960
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Honor recipient Steve Sheinkin welcomes young readers to the thrilling, tragic, and downright wild historic adventure of America’s westward expansion in Which Way to the Wild West? Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn’t Tell You About America’s Westward Expansion, featuring illustrations by Tim Robinson. 1805: Explorer William Clark reaches the Pacific Ocean and pens the badly spelled line “Ocian in view! O! the joy!” (Hey, he was an explorer, not a spelling bee champion!) 1836: Mexican general Santa Anna surrounds the Alamo, trapping 180 Texans inside and prompting Texan William Travis to declare, “I shall never surrender or retreat.” 1861: Two railroad companies, one starting in the West and one in the East, start a race to lay the most track and create a transcontinental railroad. With a storyteller's voice and attention to the details that make history real and interesting, Steve Sheinkin delivers the wild facts about America's greatest adventure. From the Louisiana Purchase (remember: if you're negotiating a treaty for your country, play it cool.) to the gold rush (there were only three ways to get to California--all of them bad) to the life of the cowboy, the Indian wars, and the everyday happenings that defined living on the frontier. “An engaging...medley of anecdotes about the Wild West in nine lively chapters starting with the Louisiana Purchase and ending with the Lakota massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. Casual vignettes of famous figures and ordinary people come to life.” —School Library Journal “Sheinkin builds his conversational narrative around stories of the men and women who peopled the west, with particular attention given to African Americans, Chinese workers, and everyday farmers and cowboys. There's plenty of humor here, but Sheinkin's strength is his ability to transition between events.”—The Horn Book Also by Steve Sheinkin: Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War King George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Revolution Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War Born to Fly: The First Women's Air Race Across America

Cowboy Joel and the Wild Wild West

Cowboy Joel and the Wild Wild West PDF Author: The Gagnon Family
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781946389121
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Meet Cowboy Joel and Blackbeard the lizard. Both are missin' some parts, but will that keep 'em from standin' up to El Maton and winnin' the wild wild west?

Hannah Mae O'Hannigan's Wild West Show

Hannah Mae O'Hannigan's Wild West Show PDF Author: Lisa Campbell Ernst
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
ISBN:
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
Born to be a cowgirl, city-dweller Hannah Mae O'Hannigan gets a pony for the back yard and practices herding hamsters before proving her worth on her Uncle Coot's ranch out West.

In Praise of Blame

In Praise of Blame PDF Author: George Sher
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195187423
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
Blame is an unpopular & neglected notion that goes against the grain of a therapeutically-orientated culture & has received relatively little philosophical attention. George Sher discusses questions about the nature, normative status & the relation to character of blame, arguing that it is inseparable from morality itself.

Laws of the Wild West

Laws of the Wild West PDF Author: Peter Woodworth
Publisher: White Wolf Games Studio
ISBN: 9781565045040
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Very few games seek to redefine the conventions of roleplaying as does the Mind's Eye Theatre line. There are no tables or dice involved in Mind's Eye Theatre games. Instead, you become a part of the story. You assume the role of your character as soon as you step through the door, enacting every action, movement and gesture. For the purposes of the game, you are your character. The live-action worlds of werewolves and the Wild West, combined!

Ireland to the Wild West

Ireland to the Wild West PDF Author: Marcus Paul
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781620209592
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Using letters written by Agnes Hatley, the author takes readers on a journey through Agnes' engagement to James Kinnier Wilson, their marriage, travels and their arrival and life in America.

The Wild West

The Wild West PDF Author:
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0789212609
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Interact with the story of America’s frontier through the detailed paintings of America’s foremost historical artist, Mort Künstler Künstler’s paintings bring history to life with striking portrayals of the events of America’s Wild West, starting in 1804, when Lewis and Clark made their first expeditions, to 1890, when the American frontier was declared “vanished.” The epic artworks faithfully capture the incredible landscapes, explorations, and battles of this important period, and ask children to look again and again for special details, such as the feathers in an American Indian chief’s headdress to the type of horse a cattleman rides. Together with text by award-winning historian James I. Robertson, Jr., these brilliantly explicit paintings engage a young reader’s attention and introduce him or her to American history through the visual arts. Lauded by both historians and curators, Künstler presents beautifully rendered works chronicling America’s expansion to the West in a historically accurate and appealing way—transporting the reader right into each scene.

Buffalo Bill and the Wild West

Buffalo Bill and the Wild West PDF Author: Brooklyn Museum
Publisher: Brooklyn Museum of Art
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description