Position and the Nature of Personhood
Author: Larry Cochran
Publisher: Praeger
Published: 1985-03-11
Total Pages: 216
ISBN-13:
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Exploring Personhood
Author: Joseph Torchia
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2008
Total Pages: 316
ISBN-13: 9780742548381
DOWNLOAD EBOOKExplores the metaphysical underpinnings of theories of human nature, personhood, and the self. This book moves from the Pre-Socratics to Postmodernism, assessing what transpired during the intervening 2500 year period, with a focus on the contributions of the Aristotelian/Thomistic tradition of inquiry.
The Future of Human Nature
Author: Jürgen Habermas
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2014-10-15
Total Pages: 121
ISBN-13: 074569411X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKRecent developments in biotechnology and genetic research are raising complex ethical questions concerning the legitimate scope and limits of genetic intervention. As we begin to contemplate the possibility of intervening in the human genome to prevent diseases, we cannot help but feel that the human species might soon be able to take its biological evolution in its own hands. ‘Playing God’ is the metaphor commonly used for this self-transformation of the species, which, it seems, might soon be within our grasp. In this important new book, Jürgen Habermas – the most influential philosopher and social thinker in Germany today – takes up the question of genetic engineering and its ethical implications and subjects it to careful philosophical scrutiny. His analysis is guided by the view that genetic manipulation is bound up with the identity and self-understanding of the species. We cannot rule out the possibility that knowledge of one’s own hereditary factors may prove to be restrictive for the choice of an individual’s way of life and may undermine the symmetrical relations between free and equal human beings. In the concluding chapter – which was delivered as a lecture on receiving the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for 2001 – Habermas broadens the discussion to examine the tension between science and religion in the modern world, a tension which exploded, with such tragic violence, on September 11th.
Architecture, Ethics, and the Personhood of Place
Author: Gregory Caicco
Publisher: UPNE
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 268
ISBN-13: 9781584656531
DOWNLOAD EBOOKArchitecture and environmental design are among the last professional fields to develop a sustained and nuanced discussion concerning ethics. Hemmed in by politics and powerful clients on one side and the often unscrupulous practices of the construction industry on the other, environmental designers have been traditionally reluctant to address ethical issues head on. And yet the rapid urbanization of the world's population continues to swell into new megacities, each less healthy, welcoming, secure, or environmentally sustainable than the next. Green, carbon-reduced, and sustainable building practices are important ways architects have recently responded to the symptoms of the crisis, but are these efforts really addressing the core issues? Taking the Dine (Navajo) "Hogan Song"--a song used to protect and nourish the personhood of newly constructed dwellings--as their inspiration, the architects, philosophers, poets, and other contemporary scholars contributing to this volume demonstrate that a deeper, more radical change in our relationship to the built world needs to occur. While offering a careful critique of modernist, corporate, or techno-enthralled design practices, these essays investigate an alternative "relational ecology" whose wisdom draws from ancient and often-marginalized voices, if not the whisperings of the earth itself. Contributors include: Richard Kearney, Alberto Perez-Gomez, Juhani Pallasmaa, Karsten Harries, Edward Casey, Susan Stewart, David Abram, Stacy Alaimo, Jace and Laura Weaver, Philip Sheldrake, and Sebnem Yucel Young.
Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference
Author: Justin Smith-Ruiu
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2017-03-14
Total Pages: 309
ISBN-13: 0691176345
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPeople have always been xenophobic, but an explicit philosophical and scientific view of human racial difference only began to emerge during the modern period. Why and how did this happen? Surveying a range of philosophical and natural-scientific texts, dating from the Spanish Renaissance to the German Enlightenment, Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference charts the evolution of the modern concept of race and shows that natural philosophy, particularly efforts to taxonomize and to order nature, played a crucial role. Smith demonstrates how the denial of moral equality between Europeans and non-Europeans resulted from converging philosophical and scientific developments, including a declining belief in human nature's universality and the rise of biological classification. The racial typing of human beings grew from the need to understand humanity within an all-encompassing system of nature, alongside plants, minerals, primates, and other animals. While racial difference as seen through science did not arise in order to justify the enslavement of people, it became a rationalization and buttress for the practices of trans-Atlantic slavery. From the work of François Bernier to G. W. Leibniz, Immanuel Kant, and others, Smith delves into philosophy's part in the legacy and damages of modern racism. With a broad narrative stretching over two centuries, Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference takes a critical historical look at how the racial categories that we divide ourselves into came into being.
Love Thy Body
Author: Nancy R. Pearcey
Publisher: Baker Books
Published: 2018-01-02
Total Pages: 468
ISBN-13: 1493412825
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhy the call to Love Thy Body? To counter a pervasive hostility toward the body and biology that drives today's headline stories: Transgenderism: Activists detach gender from biology. Kids down to kindergarten are being taught their bodies are irrelevant. Is this affirming--or does it demean the body? Homosexuality: Advocates disconnect sexuality from biological identity. Is this liberating--or does it denigrate biology? Abortion: Supporters deny the fetus is a person, though it is biologically human. Does this mean equality for women--or does it threaten the intrinsic value of all humans? Euthanasia: Those who lack certain cognitive abilities are said to be no longer persons. Is this compassionate--or does it ultimately put everyone at risk? In Love Thy Body, bestselling author Nancy Pearcey goes beyond politically correct slogans with a riveting exposé of the dehumanizing worldview that shapes current watershed moral issues. Pearcey then turns the tables on media boilerplate that misportrays Christianity as harsh or hateful. A former agnostic, she makes a surprising and persuasive case that Christianity is holistic, sustaining the dignity of the body and biology. Throughout she entrances readers with compassionate stories of people wrestling with hard questions in their own lives--their pain, their struggles, their triumphs. "Liberal secularist ideology rests on a mistake and Nancy Pearcey in her terrific new book puts her finger right on it. In embracing abortion, euthanasia, homosexual conduct and relationships, transgenderism, and the like, liberal secularism . . . is philosophically as well as theologically untenable."--Robert P. George, Princeton University "Wonderful guide."--Sam Allberry, author, Is God Anti-Gay? "A must-read."--Rosaria Butterfield, former professor, Syracuse University; author, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert "An astute but accessible analysis of the intellectual roots of the most important moral ills facing us today: abortion, euthanasia, and redefining the family."--Richard Weikart, California State University, Stanislaus "Highly readable, insightful, and informative."--Mary Poplin, Claremont Graduate University; author, Is Reality Secular? "Unmasks the far-reaching practical consequences of mind-body dualism better than anyone I have ever seen."--Jennifer Roback Morse, founder and president, The Ruth Institute "Love Thy Body richly enhances the treasure box that is Pearcey's collective work."--Glenn T. Stanton, Focus on the Family "Essential reading . . . Love Thy Body brings clarity and understanding to the multitude of complex and confusing views in discussions about love and sexuality."--Becky Norton Dunlop, Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow, The Heritage Foundation "Pearcey gets straight to the issue of our day: What makes humans valuable in the first place? You must get this book. Don't just read it. Master it."--Scott Klusendorf, president, Life Training Institute
Position and the Nature of Personhood
Author: Larry Cochran
Publisher: Praeger
Published: 1985-03-11
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 0313246335
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Psychology of Personhood
Author: Jack Martin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012-11-29
Total Pages: 277
ISBN-13: 1107018080
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA new examination of the psychology of personhood, which views persons as irreducibly embodied and socially situated beings.
Epistemic Dimensions of Personhood
Author: Simon J. Evnine
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2008-05-15
Total Pages: 188
ISBN-13: 0191553697
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSimon Evnine examines various epistemic aspects of what it is to be a person. Persons are defined as finite beings that have beliefs, including second-order beliefs about their own and others' beliefs, and are agents, capable of making long-term plans. It is argued that for any being meeting these conditions, a number of epistemic consequences obtain. First, all such beings must have certain logical concepts and be able to use them in certain ways. Secondly, there are at least two principles governing belief that it is rational for persons to satisfy and are such that nothing can be a person at all unless it satisfies them to a large extent. These principles are that one believe the conjunction of one's beliefs and that one treat one's future beliefs as, by and large, better than one's current beliefs. Thirdly, persons both occupy epistemic points of view on the world and show up within those views. This makes it impossible for them to be completely objective about their own beliefs. Ideals of rationality that require such objectivity, while not necessarily wrong, are intrinsically problematic for persons. This 'aspectual dualism' is characteristic of treatments of persons in the Kantian tradition. In sum, these epistemic consequences support a traditional view of the nature of persons, one in opposition to much recent theorizing.
Body & Soul
Author: J. P. Moreland
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2009-09-20
Total Pages: 385
ISBN-13: 0830874593
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhile most people throughout history have believed that we are both physical and spiritual beings, the rise of science has called into question the existence of the soul. Many now argue that neurophysiology demonstrates the radical dependence, indeed, identity, between mind and brain. Advances in genetics and in mapping human DNA, some say, show there is no need for the hypothesis of body-soul dualism. Even many Christian intellectuals have come to view the soul as a false Greek concept that is outdated and unbiblical. Concurrent with the demise of dualism has been the rise of advanced medical technologies that have brought to the fore difficult issues at both edges of life. Central to questions about abortion, fetal research, reproductive techologies, cloning and euthanasia is our understanding of the nature of human personhood, the reality of life after death and the value of ethical or religious knowledge as compared to scientific knowledge. In this careful treatment, J. P. Moreland and Scott B. Rae argue that the rise of these problems alongside the demise of Christian dualism is no coincidence. They therefore employ a theological realism to meet these pressing issues, and to present a reasonable and biblical depiction of human nature as it impinges upon critical ethical concerns. This vigorous philosophical and ethical defense of human nature as body and soul, regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees, will be for all a touchstone for debate and discussion for years to come.
