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
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... practices that have their original home in non-theistic spiritual traditions such as Bud- dhism, Aristotelianism, and Stoicism. The latter disciplines, inquiries, sciences, and spiritual practices, insofar (and this is not their only ...
... practices . This is the manifest image . It is a work in progress , but one can catch it and examine it for a people at a time . When we talk about “ how people see things , ” we are normally talking about the manifest image . At some ...
... practices and institutions , theol- ogies , and such non - theistic spiritual conceptions as ethical naturalism , secular humanism , pagan shamanism , Confucianism , Buddhism , and Sto- icism . The basic idea is that in order to ...
... practice: Before one is able to say anything interesting about some individual's or group's thinking and behavior, one needs to understand what the individual or group is doing. This requires a rich and intricate understanding of the ...
... practice of nineteenth-century Viennese psychiatry as adapted by Hollywood). The members of the sextet, individually and collectively, name familiar domains with which virtually every modern life intersects. They name places we go to ...
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 |