Answers for Aristotle : how science and philosophy can lead us to a more meaningful life

Format:

Book (regular print)

Title:

Answers for Aristotle : how science and philosophy can lead us to a more meaningful life

Author:

Pigliucci, Massimo, 1964- author

ISBN:

9780465021383

Publication:

New York : Basic Books, [2012]

Physical Description:

312 pages ; 22 cm

General Note:

Includes index.

Contents:

Sci-phi and the meaning of life -- Trolley dilemmas and how we make moral decisions -- Your brain on morality -- The evolution of morality -- A handy-dandy menu for building your own moral theory -- The not so rational animal -- Intuition vs. rationality, and how to become really good at what you do -- The limits of science -- The (limited) power of the will -- Who's in charge anyway?: the zombie inside you -- The hormones of love -- Friendship and the meaning of life -- Right, left, up, down: on politics -- Our innate sense of fairness -- On justice -- Your brain on God -- The evolution of religion -- Euthryphro's dilemma, morality as a human problem -- Conclusion: so what? -- Human nature and the meaning of life.

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."--Jacket.

Personal Subject:

Aristotle

Aristotle. (OCoLC)fst00029885

Subject(s):

Holds:

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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 Notes

Massimo Pigliucci is a professor in the philosophy program at the City University of New York's Graduate centre and was formerly a biology professor at Stony Brook University. He is the author or editor of eight previous books, most recently Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk. He lives in New York City.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this careful examination of the surprising connections between science and philosophy, CUNY-Lehman College philosopher Pigliucci (Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk) begins with "sci-phi," the "idea that philosophy and science can be combined to give us the best possible knowledge about the world and how to act within it." He links Aristotle's observations on the striving for moral and physical happiness against the desire for immediate gratification with recent research on weight loss, demonstrating the physical limits of most treatments. Using the often-discussed "trolley dilemma," in which one person must be sacrificed if the majority are to be saved, the author explains how most people follow a utilitarian approach toward moral decision-making--pursuing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. They follow a different theory, however, if the situation requires them to actively harm someone in order to save lives. Brain scans of healthy people support these tests, showing that different situations provoke reactions in sections of the brain associated with either emotion or abstract reasoning. This is a witty and insightful look at the relevance of philosophy today. Agent: Judy Heiblum, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

A look at why both science and philosophy are necessary to "approach the perennial questions concerning how we construct the meaning of our existence." Pigliucci (Philosophy/CUNY-Lehman Coll.; Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science From Bunk, 2010, etc.), who holds doctorates in both biology and philosophy, provides an overview of relevant philosophic arguments about virtue, beginning with Aristotle's thoughts on how to achieve a happy and fruitful life: "doing the right things for the right reason" while rising above "weakness of the will." Pigliucci compares this with the views of utilitarian philosophers such as Jeremy Bentham and the rule-based prescriptions of Immanuel Kant. He also looks at how neuropsychologists deal with the putative existence of free will by constructing experiments (using fMRI scanning devices) that show brain activations of muscles before a subject is aware of making a conscious decision to act. Warning that experiments often do not simulate realistic situations, he argues that the relationship between science and philosophy is highly complex. We must "let philosophy (informed by science) guide us in principle, and to use science (steered by philosophy) as our best bet for implementing those principles," he writes. Pigliucci applies Aristotle's four causes principle to illustrate the nature of religious belief, which "is made possible by the neurobiological characteristics of the human brain that make us prone to superstitious thinking." A useful introduction to sources on both sides of the science-philosophy divide.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Pigliucci is a singular bridge-builder, one who connects science as the investigation of what is with philosophy as reflection on what should be. Pigliucci acknowledges that Aristotle constructed such bridges long ago, but he laments that many modern thinkers, irrationally suspicious of science, have now abandoned half of Aristotle's enterprise. Bravely renewing the entire Aristotelian project, Pigliucci surveys the latest scientific research in primatology, psychology, and neurobiology, always integrating the researchers' empirical findings into a meaningful philosophical perspective. This scientific-philosophical (or sci-phi ) perspective opens onto particularly provocative interpretations of human morality, clarifying, for instance, how an understanding of the neuromechanics of moral judgment exposes the weaknesses of popular ethical theories. Remarkably versatile, sci-phi reasoning also illuminates the real potential of social-networking friendships and exposes the dangerous oversimplifications in media portrayals of political conflict. Still, some readers may wonder about Pigliucci's sci-phi attack on religion as a senseless delusion. Apparently, Pigliucci's bridge from science to philosophy doesn't reach as far as Pascal or Kierkegaard. A book sure to spark debate.--Christensen, Bryce Copyright 2010 Booklist

Choice Review

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking made news recently by proclaiming the death of philosophy (The Grand Design, with Leonard Mlodinow, CH, Feb'11, 48-3341), lending credence to the opinion that science is the best (and only) path to knowledge. Pigliucci (CUNY Graduate Center) is proof positive that the reports of philosophy's death have been greatly exaggerated. A philosopher very much alive and well, Pigliucci believes that, far from being at odds, philosophy and science can work together to provide people with a more complete understanding of themselves and the world around them. Like Aristotle before him, Pigliucci sees science and philosophy as partners: science provides the cold, hard facts; philosophy allows assessment of their value. Thus, this book is a refreshing, sympathetic look at how philosophy can enlist the help of science to answer enduring questions of morality, epistemology, philosophy of mind, political philosophy, and philosophy of religion. A word of caution--Pigliucci's omission of footnotes indicates that he intends his book for a general audience. But what this work lacks in dense scholarship, it makes up for in readability. This highly enjoyable book will provide enough incentive for even the most sedentary armchair philosophers to get up and stretch their legs. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and general readers. F. A. Grabowski Rogers State University

1 Sci-Phi and the Meaning of Life	p. 1
Part I How do we Tell Right from Wrong?
2 Trolley Dilemmas and How we Make Moral Decisions	p. 21
3 Your Brain on Morality	p. 31
4 The Evolution of Morality	p. 45
5 A Handy-Dandy Menu for Building your Own Moral Theory	p. 59
Part II How do we Know What we Think we Know?
6 The Not so Rational Animal	p. 77
7 Intuition Versus Rationality, and How to Become Really Good at What you do	p. 91
8 The Limits of Science	p. 109
Part III Who Am I?
9 The (Limited) Power of the Will	p. 127
10 Who's in Charge Anyway?: The Zombie Inside you	p. 143
Part IV Love and Friendship
11 The Hormones of Love	p. 157
12 Friendship and the Meaning of Life	p. 173
Part V The (Political) Animal Inside you
13 Right, Left, Up, Down: On Politics	p. 187
14 Our Innate Sense of Fairness	p. 203
15 On Justice	p. 213
Part VI What About God?
16 Your Brain on God	p. 231
17 The Evolution of Religion	p. 243
18 Euthyphro's Dilemma: Morality as a Human Problem	p. 263
Conclusion: Human Nature and the Meaning of Life	p. 273
Acknowledgments	p. 289
Digging Deeper	p. 291
Index	p. 307

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Choice Review

Table of Contents