Genesis Redux

Genesis Redux PDF Author: Jessica Riskin
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226720837
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Since antiquity, philosophers and engineers have tried to take life’s measure by reproducing it. Aiming to reenact Creation, at least in part, these experimenters have hoped to understand the links between body and spirit, matter and mind, mechanism and consciousness. Genesis Redux examines moments from this centuries-long experimental tradition: efforts to simulate life in machinery, to synthesize life out of material parts, and to understand living beings by comparison with inanimate mechanisms. Jessica Riskin collects seventeen essays from distinguished scholars in several fields. These studies offer an unexpected and far-reaching result: attempts to create artificial life have rarely been driven by an impulse to reduce life and mind to machinery. On the contrary, designers of synthetic creatures have generally assumed a role for something nonmechanical. The history of artificial life is thus also a history of theories of soul and intellect. Taking a historical approach to a modern quandary, Genesis Redux is essential reading for historians and philosophers of science and technology, scientists and engineers working in artificial life and intelligence, and anyone engaged in evaluating these world-changing projects.

History and Philosophy of Creation and the Human Race ...

History and Philosophy of Creation and the Human Race ... PDF Author: J. L. Stewart
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Human beings
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description


Genesis Redux

Genesis Redux PDF Author: Jessica Riskin
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226720837
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 408

Get Book Here

Book Description
Since antiquity, philosophers and engineers have tried to take life’s measure by reproducing it. Aiming to reenact Creation, at least in part, these experimenters have hoped to understand the links between body and spirit, matter and mind, mechanism and consciousness. Genesis Redux examines moments from this centuries-long experimental tradition: efforts to simulate life in machinery, to synthesize life out of material parts, and to understand living beings by comparison with inanimate mechanisms. Jessica Riskin collects seventeen essays from distinguished scholars in several fields. These studies offer an unexpected and far-reaching result: attempts to create artificial life have rarely been driven by an impulse to reduce life and mind to machinery. On the contrary, designers of synthetic creatures have generally assumed a role for something nonmechanical. The history of artificial life is thus also a history of theories of soul and intellect. Taking a historical approach to a modern quandary, Genesis Redux is essential reading for historians and philosophers of science and technology, scientists and engineers working in artificial life and intelligence, and anyone engaged in evaluating these world-changing projects.

The History of Philosophy

The History of Philosophy PDF Author: A. C. Grayling
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241980860
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 559

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Book Description
AUTHORITATIVE AND ACCESSIBLE, THIS LANDMARK WORK IS THE FIRST SINGLE-VOLUME HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY SHARED FOR DECADES 'A cerebrally enjoyable survey, written with great clarity and touches of wit' Sunday Times The story of philosophy is an epic tale: an exploration of the ideas, views and teachings of some of the most creative minds known to humanity. But there has been no comprehensive history of this great intellectual journey since 1945. Intelligible for students and eye-opening for philosophy readers, A. C. Grayling covers with characteristic clarity and elegance subjects like epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, logic, and the philosophy of mind, as well as the history of debates in these areas, through the ideas of celebrated philosophers as well as less well-known influential thinkers. The History of Philosophy takes the reader on a journey from the age of the Buddha, Confucius and Socrates. Through Christianity's dominance of the European mind to the Renaissance and Enlightenment. On to Mill, Nietzsche, Sartre, then the philosophical traditions of India, China and the Persian-Arabic world. And finally, into philosophy today.

A Theory of Creation

A Theory of Creation PDF Author: Francis Bowen
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 67

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Book Description
"Step into the realm of intellectual discourse with 'A Theory of Creation: A Review of 'Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation'' by Francis Bowen. Through this insightful review, Bowen offers readers a critical examination of 'Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation,' a work that sparked considerable debate and discussion in its time. Bowen's eloquent analysis delves into the themes of creation, evolution, and the interplay between scientific inquiry and philosophical thought. As readers engage with Bowen's thoughtful examination, they will find themselves immersed in a dialogue that transcends its historical context, prompting reflection on the enduring questions that continue to shape our understanding of the natural world and human existence.

Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation

Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation PDF Author: Robert Chambers
Publisher: Tredition Classics
ISBN: 9783849162184
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

The Philosophy of History

The Philosophy of History PDF Author: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 586

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Book Description


Being Human

Being Human PDF Author: Roger Smith
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231512909
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Challenging commonly held biological, religious, and ethical beliefs, internationally well known historian of science Roger Smith boldly argues that human nature is not some "thing" awaiting discovery but is active in understanding itself. According to Smith, "being human" is a self-creation made possible through a reflective circle of thought and action, with a past and a future, and studying this "history" from a range of perspectives is fundamental to human self-understanding. Smith's argument brings together historical and contemporary debates concerning materialism and human nature and the relations of the different fields of knowledge. He draws on classic writings from across the human sciences, touching on sociology, anthropology, brain sciences, history, philosophical hermeneutics, and critical theory, and demonstrates that there is no position outside history for an absolutely objective or eternally valid view of human nature. The question "what is human?" does not have and could not possible have one answer. Instead, there exists a variety of answers for different purposes, and there are good reasons for the many conceptions of what it is to be human. Smith does not treat human nature as only biological, economic, or moral, but as a multidimensional subject that should be considered in its proper historical context. By understanding this context, Smith believes, we can come to a truer understanding of ourselves. Persuasively and elegantly written, Being Human takes an important new turn in the philosophical study of being human.

The Meaning of History

The Meaning of History PDF Author: Nikolaĭ Berdi︠a︡ev
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 1412828295
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
Berdyaev considered the philosophy of history as a field that laid the foundations of the Russian national consciousness. Its disputes were centered on distinctions between slavophiles and Westerners, East and West. The Meaning of History was an early effort, following World War I, that attempted to revive this perspective. With the removal of Communism as a ruling system in Russia, that nation returned to an elaboration of a religious philosophy of history as the specific mission of Russian thought. This volume thus has contemporary significance. Its sense of the apocalypse, which distinguishes Russian from Western thought, gives the book its specifically religious character.

At the Nexus of Philosophy and History

At the Nexus of Philosophy and History PDF Author: Bernard P. Dauenhauer
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820338095
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
The relationship between philosophy and history has long been a matter of contention. Philosophers have claimed that their pursuit of universal law and eternal verities elevated them beyond historians, who merely dabbled with the vagaries of the particular and the contingent. Historians responded with the argument that philosophy was important only in relation to its contribution to concrete, historical truth. A greater challenge for both philosophers and historians than the defense of either of these positions has been to understand the convoluted issues surrounding the intersection of their respective disciplines. In At the Nexus of Philosophy and History, Bernard P. Dauenhauer has collected eleven essays that explore the relationship between the two disciplines and provide a significant, innovative response to the problems created by such exploration. The original essays collected in this volume challenge the artificial distinctions and disciplinary parochialism that have too often characterized traditional academic debate. Instead of advancing any one elaborate theory, At the Nexus of Philosophy and History seeks to encourage a balanced approach toward the exploration of the two fields by demonstrating that a full understanding of the one is impossible without knowledge of the other.

History and Philosophy of Creation and the Human Race (Classic Reprint)

History and Philosophy of Creation and the Human Race (Classic Reprint) PDF Author: J. L. Stewart
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781330668627
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Excerpt from History and Philosophy of Creation and the Human Race We feel impressed with the conviction, that to the understanding of many, on first reading this work, the doctrine and ideas herein developed, will indeed, be obscured by mystery; and, owing to this fact, we would most earnestly solicit the patience of the reader to weary not, but to give careful, deep, and unbiased thought and consideration to the whole volume, and especially to those subjects which may, for a time, seem enveloped in mystery, with the sure understanding that all things - every principle of science, every development of philosophy - was involved in deepest obscurity ere its germ was unfolded, developed, and explained to the juvenile mind. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.