I have been re-rereading these weeks my Nabokov and got so annoyed at times that I had to think what was the problem with me, for I have enjoyed Nabokov for many years.
My conclusion is this: after Shake-speare, Donne, and Göngora I
think I have touched the greatest dimension that literature (and
poetry) has to offer me, so that Nabokov sounded perverse, foolish, carnivalesque, flippant, inconsequent, and extravagant in comparison. Specially revealing of my exhaustion with literature for me was to read again Pale Fire and be bored with the poetry and the flippant commentary. I have changed. I had to
shift to my scientific studies, that was clear to me. I am in a different phase.
Some
years ago I read Nicholas Humphreyʼs complete works and found it
great (specially his Consciousness Regained, Seeing Red,
and Soul Dust), but to
prepare my book on Evolutionary Psychology and Naturalist Philosophy
I want to read Flanaganʼs books on consciousness too, as he is
clearly a main reference on this field. There are two books of him on
this topic: Dreaming Souls and
The Problem of the Soul. While I am reading the former, there is an Amazon review written by some Book Shark
that is too good to miss on the latter. It reads:
The
Problem of the Soul
is the interesting book about the two main conflicting views of the
soul: one being the humanistic and the other scientific. Philosopher
Owen Flanagan tackles the concept of the soul from various angles and
in doing so also touches on other important related topics such as:
the mind, the self, free will, God, ethics, and the meaning of life.
This 384-page book is composed of the following seven chapters: 1.
Human Being, 2. The Human Image, 3. Mind, 4. Free Will, 5. Permanent
Persons, 6. Natural Selves, and 7. Ethics and Human Ecology.
Positives:
1. Fascinating topic.
2. Thought-provoking book.
3. Hits on many fascinating religious topics.
4. Makes compelling arguments by using sound logic and science.
5. Clearly delineates both images of the soul: the humanistic versus the scientific.
6. Great thought-provoking quotes, “Our animal side is our only side. We are all animal and the brain is our soul”.
7. Conviction of his words, “There are no such things as souls or nonphysical minds”.
8. Neuroscience leaves no place for the soul to hide.
9. Evolution demonstrates how intelligence arose from totally insensate origins.
10. Accessible use of philosophy. Terms well defined and applied.
11. Objective versus subjective experiences.
12. Ethics as a form of human nature.
13. “False beliefs are the philosopherʼs enemy”. A recurring theme throughout book.
14. The use of Buddhism to address matters of meaning, ethics and self.
15. The conflict between religion and science. Many examples.
16. The problem of free will versus determinism.
17. The soul defined. “The belief in the soul is, like many things we believe in, normally accepted without argument, let alone proof”.
18. Fascinating look at schizophrenia and autism.
19. Free will debunked. Including misinterpretation of Damasioʼs view on it.
20. The claim that we can make sense of rational deliberation and choice in a causal universe.
21. A unique definition of miracles. “Rare causal outcomes, they are not uncaused”.
22. The difference between non-intellectualist versus intellectualist.
23. An interesting look at the concept of the self.
24. The difference between faith and knowledge. Great stuff!
25. The use of the Bible to make some points.
26. Four features of why the posits of the soul are appealing despite being unwarranted by the evidence.
27. The cosmological argument debunked.
28. Why do people believe...
29. The job of a philosopher.
30. Naturalism as the only worldview that explains everything in need of explanation.
31. What the self is.
32. The impact of brain injuries to the self.
33. Ethics from a naturalist's point of view.
34. “It is one of the four noble truths of Buddhism that we will flourish only if, among other things, we see things truthfully”. Too good not to share.
35. Morality from the eyes of Hobbes and Hume.
36. Very strong bibliography.
Negatives:
1. The quality of the font used left something to be desired.
2. The prose though effective lacked panache.
3. The author would have been better served if he had debated against the best of the opposing views.
4. The parts of the book appear to be better than the whole.
5. A little dated in parts (neuroscience) but still has value.
6. A little light on theology.
1. Fascinating topic.
2. Thought-provoking book.
3. Hits on many fascinating religious topics.
4. Makes compelling arguments by using sound logic and science.
5. Clearly delineates both images of the soul: the humanistic versus the scientific.
6. Great thought-provoking quotes, “Our animal side is our only side. We are all animal and the brain is our soul”.
7. Conviction of his words, “There are no such things as souls or nonphysical minds”.
8. Neuroscience leaves no place for the soul to hide.
9. Evolution demonstrates how intelligence arose from totally insensate origins.
10. Accessible use of philosophy. Terms well defined and applied.
11. Objective versus subjective experiences.
12. Ethics as a form of human nature.
13. “False beliefs are the philosopherʼs enemy”. A recurring theme throughout book.
14. The use of Buddhism to address matters of meaning, ethics and self.
15. The conflict between religion and science. Many examples.
16. The problem of free will versus determinism.
17. The soul defined. “The belief in the soul is, like many things we believe in, normally accepted without argument, let alone proof”.
18. Fascinating look at schizophrenia and autism.
19. Free will debunked. Including misinterpretation of Damasioʼs view on it.
20. The claim that we can make sense of rational deliberation and choice in a causal universe.
21. A unique definition of miracles. “Rare causal outcomes, they are not uncaused”.
22. The difference between non-intellectualist versus intellectualist.
23. An interesting look at the concept of the self.
24. The difference between faith and knowledge. Great stuff!
25. The use of the Bible to make some points.
26. Four features of why the posits of the soul are appealing despite being unwarranted by the evidence.
27. The cosmological argument debunked.
28. Why do people believe...
29. The job of a philosopher.
30. Naturalism as the only worldview that explains everything in need of explanation.
31. What the self is.
32. The impact of brain injuries to the self.
33. Ethics from a naturalist's point of view.
34. “It is one of the four noble truths of Buddhism that we will flourish only if, among other things, we see things truthfully”. Too good not to share.
35. Morality from the eyes of Hobbes and Hume.
36. Very strong bibliography.
Negatives:
1. The quality of the font used left something to be desired.
2. The prose though effective lacked panache.
3. The author would have been better served if he had debated against the best of the opposing views.
4. The parts of the book appear to be better than the whole.
5. A little dated in parts (neuroscience) but still has value.
6. A little light on theology.
In summary, few shortcomings aside I enjoyed this book. In fact, I liked it better the second time around. Professor Flanagan takes a fascinating topic and provides very solid arguments to defend his points. This is a very sound book, a solid recommendation.
On
and on ʼtil
the final Dragon...
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