The Philosophy of Human Nature
- Illinois Open Court 2008
- 184p
includes index and biblioraphy
1 The difference question .....1 Some philosophical approaches ....4 Critique of these historical approaches .....6 Distinctive human conceit ....11 The importance of being self-conscious ....12 2 Are there any distinctively human instincts ....15 Some historical positions ....17 Complex instincts in humans ....19 Human cognitive instinct .....22 Human behavioral instinct ...24 3 Can personality traits and intelligence be inherited .....27 Heredity ....30 The past and present of genetics ....30 The problem pf isolating variables ....32 Contemporary areas of controversy ....34 The political paradox: Some ironies in democracy ....41 Dobzhansky`s social paradox ......42 4 Are there any significant sex-related personality characteristics ....47 Biological differentiation of the sexes ...49 Psychological differences ....51 Historical overview of theories about M/F differences .....53 Some socio-political considerations .....60 Possible implications of M/F brain differentials .....61 5 The future of human evolution ....65 Social and cultural evolution ......69 Patterns in the past .....71 Projections of the future ....73 Contemporary harbingers of a third stage ....78 6 Is human nature a unity or a duality .....81 Experiential aspects ....83 Positions taken in the history of philosophy .....85 Historicalphilosophical positions emphasizing the unity-in-duality of personality .....88 Mind-body causality and the problem of the prime analogate .....89 7 Human freedom ....93 Materialists and the idea of freedom ....95 Consequences of the rejection of the idea of freedom .....96 Clarification of terms ....97 Conceptual analysis ....98 8 Human development .....105 Problems connected with this analysis .....107 Procedural aspects .....108 The stages of consciousness, infancy to adolescence .....109 9 Maturity ...117 Psychological marturity ....119 Existential marturity ....120 The relationship to physical goods ...122 The relationship to oneself ....123 Objective marturity versus relative maturity .....124 10 The nature of love ....127 Cosmic love ...129 Interpersonal love: Cultural influences ....129 Philosophers and love ....131 Love and its opposites (what love is not) ....131 What love is ....133 The types of love ....134 11 Philosophy and the paranormal ....137 Empirical research on paranormal phenomena ......139 Research methodologies .....140 Major types of Psi .....141 Philosophical issues connected with Psi ....145 12 Survival after death ......151 Initial prejudices ....153 The experiential evidence: NDEs? .....154 Philosophical analysis ....157 Conclusions regarding immorality .....160 Immortality versus resurrection ....161 Special problems with resurrection .....161 A final possibility ....163