The Elegant Universe - Brian Greene

"The basic oneness of the universe is not only the central characteristic of the mystical experience, but is also one of the most important revelations of modern physics. .... As we study the various models of subatomic physics we shall see that they express again and again, in different ways, the same insight--that the constituents of matter and the basic phenomena involving them are all interconnected, interrelated and interdependent; that they cannot be understood as isolated entities, but only as integrated parts of the whole."

In his 1967 book "The Three Pillars of Zen," Philip Kapleau Roshi wrote these words before presenting a short section from Zen Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo on “Being-Time”:

"Dogen’s Insights as to time and being, realized by him introspectively in the 13th century through zazen, and the views of certain contemporary micro- and macro-physicists on time and space, arrived at by them through the principles and methods of science, parallel each other to a remarkable degree. The difference, however, and a deeply significant one, is in the effect these insights had upon these men. Dogen’s realization, being a Self-discovery, liberated him from the basic anxieties of human existence, bringing him inner freedom and peace and deep moral certainty. But, as far as can be seen at this time, no such inner evolution has followed in the wake of these scientific discoveries."

Richard Dawkins: How a scientist changed the way we think Edited by Alan Grafen and Matt Ridley

If Darwin's revelation of natural selection is "the best idea anyone, any where, ever had", then Richard Dawkins' identification of the "selfish gene" must run a close second. While Darwin's concept explained the workings of life, Dawkins' insight disclosed the mechanism of natural selection. The 1976 publication of "The Selfish Gene" not only stimulated a fresh wave of thinking among biologists, it also stirred public interest and imagination. If life was under the thrall of those strings of chemicals in our cells, how far did that influence reach? In this set of excellent essays on the issues, Dawkins ideas and their impact are presented and discussed. The fruit of his insights are bittersweet, and while most of these writings applaud his probity and communication skills, there is the tang of doubt about some of them.

More than two dozen essays comprise this collection. They are topically organised, starting with the biology issues, moving through the logic Dawkins uses to his writing skills. Today, the biology seems straightforward: genes build bodies. Those bodies contain nervous systems and brains - the root of behaviours. At the publication of "The Selfish Gene", it was widely thought that evolution worked at the species' level. Dawkins moved that mechanism much deeper. Its effect is manifested through various ways, with mate choice one of the more significant. Andrew Read explains how evolutionary pressure forces such practices as "lekking" in certain bird species. The mechanism can be readily projected to other creatures, and is manifested in humans, as well.

The Grand Design by Stephen Hawkins and Leonard Mlodinow

THE FIRST MAJOR WORK IN NEARLY A DECADE BY ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT THINKERS-A MARVELOUSLY CONCISE BOOK WITH NEW ANSWERS TO THE ULTIMATE QUESTIONS OF LIFE

When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the nature of reality? Why are the laws of nature so finely tuned as to allow for the existence of beings like ourselves? And, finally, is the apparent "grand design" of our universe evidence of a benevolent creator who set things in motion-or does science offer another explanation?

The most fundamental questions about the origins of the universe and of life itself, once the province of philosophy, now occupy the territory where scientists, philosophers, and theologians meet-if only to disagree. In their new book, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow present the most recent scientific thinking about the mysteries of the universe, in nontechnical language marked by both brilliance and simplicity.

Human Senescence:Evolutionary and Biocultural Perspectives

Much current research on the biology of senescence is on cell lines,
nematodes, or fruit flies, which may be only of peripheral relevance to
the problems encountered in human senescence. Human Senescence reviews
the evolutionary biology of human senescence and life span, and
the evolutionarily recent development of late-life survival. In examining
how human patterns of and variability in growth and development have
altered later life survival probabilities and competencies, how survival
during mid-life contributes to senescent dysfunction and alteration, and
the possibilities of further extending human life span, it gives a better understanding
of howhumans came to senesce as slowly as they do. Bringing

Content and Consciousness by Daniel C. Dennett

Content and Consciousness
Daniel C. Dennett










A pioneering work in the philosophy of mind, Content and Consciousness brings together the approaches of philosophers and scientists to the mind--a connection that must occur if genuine analysis of the mind is to be made.

WHAT IS DEATH?- A Scientist Looks at the Cycle of Life

They are the questions that have challenged philosophers, theologians, artists, and ordinary human beings for millennia: Why are we born only to die? Does death have meaning? What happens to our "selves" after we die? In What Is Death?, biologist Tyler Volk considers these piercing questions from a unique perspective that allows him to offer readers alternatives to many traditional religious explanations.
Inspired by his own confrontation with mysterious neurological problems, Volk embarks on a personal exploration of the meaning of death and its powerful implications about the meaning of life. The answers–and further questions–that he discovers by asking "What is death?" are surprising, diverse, uplifting, and extraordinarily life-affirming.
What Is Death? examines the phenomenon of death from organic, personal, and social points of view. It sheds light upon the life spans of creatures and the role of cell death in bodily health; contemplates the links among the personal confrontation with death, our brain, and consciousness; and probes the customs and rituals that surround death in various cultures.

How The Mind Works by Steven Pinker

 Theories of mind have always been shaped around images, metaphors, and analogies. The dominant picture of mind since the Renaissance--it is common to classical empiricism, which embraced consciousness, and modern behaviorism, which eschewed it--is the tabula rasa: the blank ledger upon which the environment leaves its trace as the mind is given whatever structure and content it finally possesses. Originally, the mind is conceived to be neutral, void, unbiased, plastic, undifferentiated--a mere vacuum awaiting the rush of sensory experience. The mind is able to copy experience, to detect its regularities, to order its deliverances into categories; but innately it is just a formless sponge soaking up the environmental contingencies. Behavior, in consequence, is under no innate constraint or predisposition; it simply reflects the experience of the organism, whatever that may be. Everything mental is up for grabs. There is no human nature. Our essence is nothingness.

The Outline Of Science

Was it not the great philosopher and mathematician Leibnitz who said that the more knowledge advances the more it becomes possible to condense it into little books? Now this "Outline of Science" is certainly not a little book, and yet it illustrates part of the meaning of Leibnitz's wise saying. For here within reasonable compass there is a library of little books—an outline of many sciences. It will be profitable to the student in proportion to the discrimination with which it is used. For it is not in the least meant to be of the nature of an Encyclopædia, giving condensed and comprehensive articles with a big full stop at the end of each. Nor is it a collection of "primers," beginning at the
very beginning of each subject and working methodically onwards. That is not the idea.

The Psychology of Mans Possible Evolution

Through a series of five lectures, the Russian philosopher whose writings include Tertium Organum and most recently In Search of the Miraculous (October 1, 1949- p. 567) considers the "forgotten science of psychology". Disregarding the study of man as he is or seems to be, with which the modern schools concern themselves, he turns to the study of man as he may be, what man's evolution means and the question of whether there are special conditions necessary to achieve it.

The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature is a best-selling 2002 book by Steven Pinker arguing against tabula rasa models of the social sciences. Pinker argues that human behavior is substantially shaped by evolutionary psychological adaptations. The book was nominated for the 2003 Aventis Prizes and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Pinker argues that modern science has challenged three "linked dogmas" that constitute the dominant view of human nature in intellectual life:

• the blank slate (the mind has no innate traits) - empiricism
• the noble savage (people are born good and corrupted by society) - romanticism
• the ghost in the machine (each of us has a soul that makes choices free from biology)^[1] - mind/body dualism
  

Is Human Nature Obsolete - Genetics, Bioengineering and the Future of Human Condition

Is Human Nature Obsolete? collects papers given in 2001 at a conference at the University of Scranton with an introduction and one paper written specifically for the anthology. Organizers and editors Harold Baillie and Timothy Casey asked the conference participants to address two questions:

(1)   Does the genetic engineering of humans require a new understanding of what it means to be human?

(2)   Does what we know already suggest there should be (and can be) effective limits to what can be done?

Baillie and Casey introduce the collection, summarizing each essay and conveying the tone of engaging and engaged conversation at the aforementioned conference.

As in many discussions of these topics, the focus shifts from genetic engineering in particular to take in germ line modification, cloning, various artificial insemination techniques, and abortion. I shall refer to this collection of topics by the termtechnological intervention in reproduction. The contributors also discuss the use of genetic and molecular techniques in other areas of medicine, and in agriculture, manufacturing, and body modification.

The Art of Genes - How Organisms Make Themselves

 Over the past twenty years there has been a revolution in biology: for the first time we have begun to understand how organisms make themselves. The mechanisms by which a fertilised egg develops into an adult can now be grasped in a way that was unimaginable a few decades ago. Yet this revolution has been a curiously silent one. Our new picture of how organisms develop has been inaccessible to all but a small community of biologists. This is largely because the jargon and technical complexities have prevented many of the new and exciting findings from being communicated to a wider audience. Moreover, as scientists have concentrated on unravelling the
details of the story, many of the broader implications of our new found knowledge have remained unvoiced. In my view this is particularly unfortunate because the study of development provides one of the most fertile meeting grounds for science, art and philosophy.

Primates and Philosophers How Morality Evolved

It was not until a year and a half after his voyage on board the Beagle that Charles Darwin first came face to face with an ape. He was standing by the giraffe house at the London Zoo on a warm day in late March of 1838. The zoo had just acquired an orangutan named Jenny. One of the keepers was teasing her—showing her an apple, refusing to hand it over. Poor Jenny "threw herself on her back, kicked & cried, precisely like a naughty child," Darwin wrote in a letter to his sister. In the secret notebooks that he kept after the voyage, Darwin was speculating about evolution from every angle, including the emotional, and he was fascinated by Jenny’s tantrum. What is it like to be an ape? Does an orangutan’s frustration feel a lot like ours? Might she cherish some sense of right and wrong? Will an ape despair because her keeper is breaking the rules—because he is just not playing fair? Our own species has been talking, volubly and passionately, for at least 50,000 years, and it’s a fair guess that arguments about right and wrong were prominent in our conversation pretty much from the beginning. We started writing things down 5,000 years ago, and some of our first texts were

Why Think? Evolution and the Rational Mind

This is a delightful book, in which de Sousa articulates some challenging convictions concerning the role of rationality in human thought, while also retaining and making deft use of some of his longest-held views.

De Sousa's title is literal.  He means to address the very question of why thought -- that is, rational thought -- is useful.  In offering an answer, de Sousa characterizes rationality and irrationality; describes the role of rationality in human action; explores those features of mind, such as emotions, that play important roles in rational action; explores some examples of systematic irrationality; and lays out some of the implications of evolution for the skills that enable rationality.  The end result is a surprisingly rich book given its brevity.

Throughout, de Sousa is careful to distinguish normative and descriptive senses of "rational" and "rationality."  He calls descriptive rationality thecategorial sense of "rationality."  This is the sense in which humans can be said to be rational animals.  Categorial rationality is characterized in part by thoughts that are a kind of computation, which de Sousa understands to be a process of manipulating digital representations.  This requires that we have a system of thought (that is, one or more brain modules) that has as its purpose taking representations as digital.