Answers for Aristotle How Science and Philosophy Can Lead Us to A More Meaningful Life

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Edition: 1st
Format: Hardcover
Pub. Date: 2012-10-02
Publisher(s): Basic Books
List Price: $39.47

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Summary

How should we live? According to philosopher and biologist Massimo Pigliucci, the greatest guidance to this essential question lies in combining the wisdom of 24 centuries of philosophy with the latest research from 21st century science. In Answers for Aristotle, Pigliucci argues that the combination of science and philosophy first pioneered by Aristotle offers us the best possible tool for understanding the world and ourselves. As Aristotle knew, each mode of thought has the power to clarify the other: science provides facts, and philosophy helps us reflect on the values with which to assess them. But over the centuries, the two have become uncoupled, leaving us with questions-about morality, love, friendship, justice, and politics-that neither field could fully answer on its own. Pigliucci argues that only by rejoining each other can modern science and philosophy reach their full potential, while we harness them to help us reach ours. Pigliucci discusses such essential issues as how to tell right from wrong, the nature of love and friendship, and whether we can really ever know ourselves-all in service of helping us find our path to the best possible life. Combining the two most powerful intellectual traditions in history, Answers for Aristotle is a remarkable guide to discovering what really matters and why.

Author Biography

Massimo Pigliucci is the K. D. Irani professor of philosophy at the City College of New York. The author or editor of thirteen books, he has been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Philosophy Now, and the Philosophers' Magazine, among others. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Sci-Phi and the Meaning of Lifep. 1
How do we Tell Right from Wrong?
Trolley Dilemmas and How we Make Moral Decisionsp. 21
Your Brain on Moralityp. 31
The Evolution of Moralityp. 45
A Handy-Dandy Menu for Building your Own Moral Theoryp. 59
How do we Know What we Think we Know?
The Not so Rational Animalp. 77
Intuition Versus Rationality, and How to Become Really Good at What you dop. 91
The Limits of Sciencep. 109
Who Am I?
The (Limited) Power of the Willp. 127
Who's in Charge Anyway?: The Zombie Inside youp. 143
Love and Friendship
The Hormones of Lovep. 157
Friendship and the Meaning of Lifep. 173
The (Political) Animal Inside you
Right, Left, Up, Down: On Politicsp. 187
Our Innate Sense of Fairnessp. 203
On Justicep. 213
What About God?
Your Brain on Godp. 231
The Evolution of Religionp. 243
Euthyphro's Dilemma: Morality as a Human Problemp. 263
Conclusion: Human Nature and the Meaning of Lifep. 273
Acknowledgmentsp. 289
Digging Deeperp. 291
Indexp. 307
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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