Mind, Matter, and Nature

Mind, Matter, and Nature
Author: James D. Madden
Publisher: Catholic University of America Press
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2013-06-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0813221420

Written for students, Mind, Matter, and Nature presumes no prior philosophical training on the part of the reader. The book nevertheless holds the arguments discussed to rigorous standards and is conversant with recent literature, thus making it useful as well to more advanced students and professionals interested in a resource on Thomistic hylomorphism in the philosophy of mind.

Mind Without Matter

Mind Without Matter
Author: Tammy Miller
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 90
Release: 2015-03-13
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 1503542130

The book is a summary of my ups, downs, lost, loved, hate, and God experience's in my life. I hope my poems inspire people and see that life is a story. I want to thank God for giving me this gift. Thank my family and friends for helping me write this book, because without my lifes experiences and your stories, my book wouldn't be here today. Thanks to Mike Stewart for getting back in touch with me and making this happen. Ms Kim Oliver, you did a wonderful job, and to everyone else, thank you, God bless you.

Form without Matter

Form without Matter
Author: Mark Eli Kalderon
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2015-01-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0191027731

Mark Eli Kalderon presents an original study in the philosophy of perception written in the medium of historiography. He considers the phenomenology and metaphysics of sensory presentation through the examination of an ancient aporia. Specifically, he argues that a puzzle about perception at a distance is behind Empedocles' theory of vision. Empedocles conceives of perception as a mode of material assimilation, but this raises a puzzle about color vision, since color vision seems to present colors that inhere in distant objects. But if the colors inhere in distant objects how can they be taken in by the organ of sight and so be palpable to sense? Aristotle purports to resolve this puzzle in his definition of perception as the assimilation of sensible form without the matter of the perceived particular. Aristotle explicitly criticizes Empedocles, though he is keen to retain the idea that perception is a mode of assimilation, if not a material mode. Aristotle's notorious definition has long puzzled commentators. Kalderon shows how, read in light of Empedoclean puzzlement about the sensory presentation of remote objects, Aristotle's definition of perception can be better understood. Moreover, when so read, the resulting conception of perception is both attractive and defensible.

Matter and Consciousness

Matter and Consciousness
Author: Paul M. Churchland
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 204
Release: 1988
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780262530743

In "Matter and Consciousness," Paul Churchland clearly presents the advantages and disadvantages of such difficult issues in philosophy of mind as behaviorism, reductive materialism, functionalism, and eliminative materialism. This new edition incorporates the striking developments that have taken place in neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence and notes their expanding relevance to philosophical issues. Churchland organizes and clarifies the new theoretical and experimental results of the natural sciences for a wider philosophical audience, observing that this research bears directly on questions concerning the basic elements of cognitive activity and their implementation in real physical systems. (How is it, he asks, that living creatures perform some cognitive tasks so swiftly and easily, where computers do them only badly or not at all?) Most significant for philosophy, Churchland asserts, is the support these results tend to give to the reductive and the eliminative versions of materialism. "A Bradford Book"

An Anatomy of Thought

An Anatomy of Thought
Author: Ian Glynn
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2003-04-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0198031327

Drawing on a dazzlingly wide array of disciplines--physiology, neurology, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and philosophy--Ian Glynn explains virtually every aspect of the workings of the brain, unlocking the mysteries of the mind. Here are the mechanics of nerve messages; the functioning of sensory receptors; the processes by which the brain sees, tastes, and smells; the seats of language, memory, and emotions. Glynn writes with exceptional clarity and offers telling examples: to help explain vision, for instance, he discusses optical illusions as well as cases of patients who suffer disordered seeing through healthy eyes (such as the loss of the ability to recognize familiar faces). The breadth of Glynn's erudition is astonishing, as he ranges from parallel processing in computers to the specialization of different regions of the brain (illustrated with fascinating instances of the bizarre effects of localized brain damage). He explains the different types of memory (episodic and semantic, as well as short-term and implicit memory), traces the path through the brain of information leading to emotional responses, and engages in a discussion of language that takes in Noam Chomsky and Hawaiian pidgin. Moreover, for every subject Glynn addresses, he offers a thorough-going scientific history. For example, before discussing the evolution of the brain, he provides an account of the theory of evolution itself, from the writing and success of The Origin of Species to recent work on the fossil record, DNA, and RNA. No other single volume has captured the full expanse of our knowledge of consciousness and the brain. A work of unequaled authority and eloquence, An Anatomy of Thought promises to be a new landmark of scientific writing.

More Than Allegory

More Than Allegory
Author: Bernardo Kastrup
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2016-04-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1785352881

This book is a three-part journey into the rabbit hole we call the nature of reality. Its ultimate destination is a plausible, living validation of transcendence. Each of its three parts is like a turn of a spiral, exploring recurring ideas through the prisms of religious myth, truth and belief, respectively. With each turn, the book seeks to convey a more nuanced and complete understanding of the many facets of transcendence. Part I puts forward the controversial notion that many religious myths are actually true; and not just allegorically so. Part II argues that our own inner storytelling plays a surprising role in creating the seeming concreteness of things and the tangibility of history. Part III suggests, in the form of a myth, how deeply ingrained belief systems create the world we live in. The three themes, myth, truth and belief, flow into and interpenetrate each other throughout the book.

Mind Over Matter

Mind Over Matter
Author: Peter Hollins
Publisher: PublishDrive
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2019-07-24
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN:

Stop self-defeating behaviors and act with intention. You’ll thank yourself later. What you receive in life is dictated by your self-discipline. The more you have, the more you get. Will you settle for less than you desire? How to make willpower automatic, second nature, and habitual. Mind Over Matter is not a textbook on self-discipline, nor is it a gentle and drawn-out discussion. It is a toolbox to keep you in motion and in action towards your goals. It pulls no punches as it provides direct techniques to ensure that your actions match your intentions - a difficult task. Self-discipline is not about grinding it out from morning until night. Let’s work smarter and accomplish more with less effort. Tools to get started, keep going, overcome distractions, and follow through every single time. Peter Hollins has studied psychology and peak human performance for over a dozen years and is a bestselling author. He has worked with a multitude of individuals to unlock their potential and path towards success. His writing draws on his academic, coaching, and research experience. Gain self-awareness and cultivate your determination and tenacity. Immediate action has never been so easy. •Learn the main emotional, psychological, and biological obstacles you are battling. •Understand and break the 5-step cycle of laziness that keeps you glued to the couch, unhappier than ever. •Confront yourself with a series of direct questions that force self-awareness and action. •An insightful formula for maximizing willpower and how to manipulate it. •What your discipline style is. •A guest chapter from bestselling author Stephen Guise on using mini habits to discipline your thoughts.

Mind to Matter

Mind to Matter
Author: Dawson Church
Publisher: Hay House, Inc
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2019-08-06
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1401955258

Best Health Book of 2018 - American Book Fest. Best Science Books of 2018 - Bookbub. Every creation begins as a thought, from a symphony to a marriage to an ice cream cone to a rocket launch. When we have an intention, a complex chain of events begins in our brains. Thoughts travel as electrical impulses along neural pathways. When neurons fire together they wire together, creating electromagnetic fields. These fields are invisible energy, yet they influence the molecules of matter around us the way a magnet organizes iron filings. In Mind to Matter, award-winning researcher Dawson Church explains the science showing how our minds create matter. Different intentions produce different fields and different material creations. The thoughts and energy fields we cultivate in our minds condition the atoms and molecules around us. We can now trace the science behind each link in chain from thought to thing, showing the surprising ways in which our intentions create the material world. The science in the book is illustrated by many authentic case histories of people who harnessed the extraordinary power of the mind to create. They include: Adeline, whose Stage 4 cancer disappeared after she imagined "healing stars" Raymond Aaron and two of his clients, each of whom manifested $1 million in the same week Elon Musk, who bounced back from devastating tragedy to found Tesla and SpaceX Graham Phillips, who grew the emotional regulation part of his brain by 22.8% in two months Jennifer Graf, whose grandfather's long-dead radio came to life to play love songs the day of her wedding Harold, whose 80% hearing loss reversed in an hour Joe Marana, whose deceased sister comforted him from beyond the grave Rick Geggie, whose clogged arteries cleared up the night before cardiac surgery Matthias Rust, a teen whose "airplane flight for peace" changed the fate of superpowers Wanda Burch, whose dream about cancer told the surgeon exactly where to look for it An MIT freshman student who can precipitate sodium crystals with his mind John, who found himself floating out of his body and returned to find his AIDS healed Dean, whose cortisol levels dropped by 48% in a single hour In Mind to Matter, Dawson Church shows that these outcomes aren't a lucky accident only a few people experience. Neuroscientists have measured a specific brain wave formula that is linked to manifestation. This "flow state" can be learned and applied by anyone. New discoveries in epigenetics, neuroscience, electromagnetism, psychology, vibration, and quantum physics connect each step in the process by which mind creates matter. They show that the whole universe is self-organizing, and when our minds are in a state of flow, they coordinate with nature's emergent intelligence to produce synchronous outcomes. The book contained over 150 photos and illustrations that explain the process, while an "Extended Play" section at the end of each chapter provides additional resources. As Mind to Matter drops each piece of the scientific puzzle into place, it leaves us with a profound understanding of the enormous creative potential of our minds. It also gives us a road map to cultivating these remarkable brain states in our daily lives.

Dark Matter of the Mind

Dark Matter of the Mind
Author: Daniel L. Everett
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2017-11-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 022652678X

Is it in our nature to be altruistic, or evil, to make art, use tools, or create language? Is it in our nature to think in any particular way? For Daniel L. Everett, the answer is a resounding no: it isn’t in our nature to do any of these things because human nature does not exist—at least not as we usually think of it. Flying in the face of major trends in Evolutionary Psychology and related fields, he offers a provocative and compelling argument in this book that the only thing humans are hardwired for is freedom: freedom from evolutionary instinct and freedom to adapt to a variety of environmental and cultural contexts. Everett sketches a blank-slate picture of human cognition that focuses not on what is in the mind but, rather, what the mind is in—namely, culture. He draws on years of field research among the Amazonian people of the Pirahã in order to carefully scrutinize various theories of cognitive instinct, including Noam Chomsky’s foundational concept of universal grammar, Freud’s notions of unconscious forces, Adolf Bastian’s psychic unity of mankind, and works on massive modularity by evolutionary psychologists such as Leda Cosmides, John Tooby, Jerry Fodor, and Steven Pinker. Illuminating unique characteristics of the Pirahã language, he demonstrates just how differently various cultures can make us think and how vital culture is to our cognitive flexibility. Outlining the ways culture and individual psychology operate symbiotically, he posits a Buddhist-like conception of the cultural self as a set of experiences united by various apperceptions, episodic memories, ranked values, knowledge structures, and social roles—and not, in any shape or form, biological instinct. The result is fascinating portrait of the “dark matter of the mind,” one that shows that our greatest evolutionary adaptation is adaptability itself.

Mind and Cosmos

Mind and Cosmos
Author: Thomas Nagel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 141
Release: 2012-11-22
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0199919755

The modern materialist approach to life has conspicuously failed to explain such central mind-related features of our world as consciousness, intentionality, meaning, and value. This failure to account for something so integral to nature as mind, argues philosopher Thomas Nagel, is a major problem, threatening to unravel the entire naturalistic world picture, extending to biology, evolutionary theory, and cosmology. Since minds are features of biological systems that have developed through evolution, the standard materialist version of evolutionary biology is fundamentally incomplete. And the cosmological history that led to the origin of life and the coming into existence of the conditions for evolution cannot be a merely materialist history, either. An adequate conception of nature would have to explain the appearance in the universe of materially irreducible conscious minds, as such. Nagel's skepticism is not based on religious belief or on a belief in any definite alternative. In Mind and Cosmos, he does suggest that if the materialist account is wrong, then principles of a different kind may also be at work in the history of nature, principles of the growth of order that are in their logical form teleological rather than mechanistic. In spite of the great achievements of the physical sciences, reductive materialism is a world view ripe for displacement. Nagel shows that to recognize its limits is the first step in looking for alternatives, or at least in being open to their possibility.