Rate this book

Geist Und Kosmos: Warum Die Materialistische Neodarwinistische Konzeption Der Natur So Gut Wie Sicher Falsch Ist (German Edition) (2013)

by Thomas Nagel(Favorite Author)

3.52 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Suhrkamp Verlag

review 1: I read this book by Nagel because I am completely drawn to the Neo-Darwinism materialist conception of nature. I wanted to make sure I at least maintained some balance. I found that I don't disagree with Nagel's overarching premise that there is a lot we don't understand and need to keep an open mind about where things go in the future and look for contrasting evidence. I did disagree with him on the need to abandon/need to reject the materialist account of how cognition, consciousness and values have evolved. My disagreement is largely based on my own personal experience that has convinced me that our consciousness, no matter how much it feels mysterious to us subjectively, is tied directly to our material bodies. You can't separate consciousness, cognition and values ... morefrom the grey matter in your skull. An alteration of the chemicals or the arrangement of the neurons through trauma and you change consciousness, cognition and values. This seems to be incredibly compelling evidence to me that the materialist view is the right direction to pursue in discovering why we have consciousness. The expansion of the materialist view to take in how individual consciousnesses interact within a social structure also have produced a fresh and rich new area for scientific and philosophic exploration. Nagel's protestations that the materialist view doesn't satisfy the "common sense" is off. Relativity is counter intuitive. Evolution is counter intuitive. They appeal to evidence and factual verification, not what makes sense. Science can continue to explore and continue to make advances by following the same path it has always taken, but Nagel is wrong when he suggests that we have made no progress since Aristotle's time into understanding the human condition.
review 2: The gist of Nagel's argument is that Neo-Darwinism cannot provide a materialist explanation for consciousness, cognition, and values. The explanations they do offer actually undermine our ability to have confidence in our reason―including the reasoning for Neo Darwinism. Nagel rejects theism and intelligent design (while appreciating their work and defending their critique of Neo Darwinism) for what seems to be a teleological evolutionary approach that embraces panpsychism rather than materialism. I found the critique compelling (aside from some spots that I had difficulty following). The positive vision was left underdeveloped because a paradigm shift in science would be necessary to develop it, Nagel says. Christian theism would provide answers to the questions that Nagel raises, but Nagel doesn't consider theism in the book because he is "strongly averse" to the idea of God. less

Download links for: Geist und Kosmos: Warum die materialistische neodarwinistische Konzeption der Natur so gut wie sicher falsch ist (German Edition)

Advertising