The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material WorldA noted philosopher proposes a naturalistic (rather than supernaturalistic) way to solve the "really hard problem": how to live in a meaningful way—how to live a life that really matters—even as a finite material being living in a material world. If consciousness is "the hard problem" in mind science—explaining how the amazing private world of consciousness emerges from neuronal activity—then "the really hard problem," writes Owen Flanagan in this provocative book, is explaining how meaning is possible in the material world. How can we make sense of the magic and mystery of life naturalistically, without an appeal to the supernatural? How do we say truthful and enchanting things about being human if we accept the fact that we are finite material beings living in a material world, or, in Flanagan's description, short-lived pieces of organized cells and tissue? Flanagan's answer is both naturalistic and enchanting. We all wish to live in a meaningful way, to live a life that really matters, to flourish, to achieve eudaimonia—to be a "happy spirit." Flanagan calls his "empirical-normative" inquiry into the nature, causes, and conditions of human flourishing eudaimonics. Eudaimonics, systematic philosophical investigation that is continuous with science, is the naturalist's response to those who say that science has robbed the world of the meaning that fantastical, wishful stories once provided. Flanagan draws on philosophy, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and psychology, as well as on transformative mindfulness and self-cultivation practices that come from such nontheistic spiritual traditions as Buddhism, Confucianism, Aristotelianism, and Stoicism, in his quest. He gathers from these disciplines knowledge that will help us understand the nature, causes, and constituents of well-being and advance human flourishing. Eudaimonics can help us find out how to make a difference, how to contribute to the accumulation of good effects—how to live a meaningful life. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 40
... Finding Meaning in the Natural World : The Comparative Consensus 37 3 Science for Monks : Buddhism and Science 63 4 Normative Mind Science ? Psychology , Neuroscience , and the Good Life 107 5 Neuroscience , Happiness , and Positive ...
... finding meaning in a material world . I cannot , of course , satisfy myself , my critics , or my friends that I provide an answer to the really hard prob- lem of the meaning ( s ) of life . I hope , out of gratitude to my ancestors , in ...
... . In my experience, most people don't like it when I press this idea, the idea that we are animals, although most will admit to finding themselves perplexed. On the one hand, many see that this picture Meaningful and Enchanted Lives 3.
... finding meaning. This is because there are in reality a multiplicity of kinds of things (kings and cab- bages and numbers) and relations. Different spaces are suited to speak most profitably about different relations. One reason one ...
... finding his way. Especially in the West, where no one needs to live in absolute poverty and where communication media are intrusive and speak about all these forms of life and all these ways of being, it is hard to be completely ...
Contents
1 | |
The Comparative Consensus | 37 |
Buddhism and Science | 63 |
4 Normative Mind Science? Psychology Neuroscience and the Good Life | 107 |
5 Neuroscience Happiness and Positive Illusions | 149 |
6 Spirituality Naturalized? A Strong Cat without Claws | 183 |
Notes | 221 |
Bibliography | 265 |
Index | 285 |