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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... mind and body to caus- ally interact. Naturalistic conceptions of persons ... sciences that pertain to human being. Because we are animals, biochemistry ... science, and sociology study the thinking and being of social animals, not ...
... mind science , informed by Darwin's theory of evolution , a sub - species of science conceived generally , interacts with some of the main locations to which we go to make sense of things and find meaning . Is neo - Darwinian mind science ...
... science and religion. Indeed, there is a whole publishing industry devoted to the conflicts between science and ... mind science) and ethics, not between psychology and religion. And, of course, there are abundant conflicts within and ...
... mind science, loves both Bach and the Beatles, and is on the political left participates in the Space of MeaningEarly 21st century in one recognizable way. A female Muslim from Dearborn who works as an engineer, enjoyed Reading Lolita ...
... sciences—especially but not exclusively the mind sciences—are opinionated about the nature and status of the other ways of making meaning and sense. Indeed, the very idea of the human sciences implies that all human practices can, in ...
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 |