The influence of Swami Vivekananda on the INDIAN Nationalist Movement is well-known. Swami Vivekananda was not only a visionary, or a monk but a nationalist and a reformer par excellence. Many in our own country think that religion and mysticism and social amelioration and political and economic reconstruction cannot unite and declare that the secular and spiritual ideals are polar opposites. Such a notion has been responsible for the gross misrepresentations of the spirit of Indian philosophy, religion and culture, but the mystics, the saints and the sages of India prove standing refutation of this gross misconception. India's foreign domination is also attributed to her religion which is considered to be dreamy, idealistic, fatalistic, world-denying, pessimistic and unethical and othe...

In order for someone to deal with philosophy it is not necessary to have particular qualifications, since each individual has a very powerful logic. The use of logic in combination with the freedom of thought by a free person are enough in order to become a philosopher. For this reason the present work is addressed as much to the general public as well as to scientists of any speciality. It aims to present fundamental principles that will help as foundation stones in the construction of answers to the questions that are placed. New questions are raised, and new ideas on confronting such questions are introduced, providing motives for younger people who wish to deal with philosophy and want to work out answers.

Robert Ettinger founded the cryonics (cryonic hibernation) movement in the 1960s and authored The Prospect of Immortality and Man into Superman. The ideas presented by Ettinger in these two books are examined in the present volume by living philosophers: • The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Collective Rationality, And The Prospect Of An Indefinite Prolongation Of Life (By John M. Collins) • Desirable And Undesirable Immortality: Ettinger And Arendt On Coping With Human Finitude (By Farhang Erfani) • Immortality, Death, And Our Obligations To Future Generations (By Richard V. Greene) • Time Shock And The Problem Of Anachronistic Being: An Anthropological Approach To Cryonics (By James C. Lindahl) • Caring Cryonics? (By Rita C. Manning) • Ettinger And Immortality (By Scott D. O’Re...

This book deals with the major philosophical issues in the theoretical framework of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in particular and cognitive science in general. The researchers in AI are concerned with the issues of consciousness, human subjectivity, creativity, etc. Cognitive Science and AI argue that consciousness can be artificially created and comprehended in the function of robots. The robotic activities explain the mechanism involved in computation, language processing, sensing the information, etc. Contrary to this thesis, the philosophical study tries to show that human consciousness, thinking, imagination, etc. are much larger concepts and need to be delved into in the broad theoretical framework. This book is a critique of the mechanistic theory of mind. It shows the basic founda...

Among the galaxy of scholars, Swami Vivekananda stands out as a majestic tower of light who has given a new tempo to the building up of a new sense of nationalism in modern India. The uniqueness of Vivekananda was his endeavour to translate every ounce of Vedanta into a social living and was never a cold theoretician or an abstract metaphysician. He was aware that India's life is governed by her sovereign sense of the infnite and inclusiveness which nourished her national life and India has been a spiritual strength for her people, implanting the seeds that have continuously sprouted and flowered in her art, literature, religion, philosophy, science and politics. It is a civilization that should be seen, not as a closed system or as a finished product, but as a dynamic and unfolding proces...

The thesis consists of two main divisions. The first presents an original interpretation of Martin Heidegger's philosophy. The second - premised on the first - presents a fundamental and internal critique of his philosophy. The interpretative division demonstrates the way in which the history of being is structurally grounded in the ontological conformation of Dasein. This amounts to evincing the unity of Heidegger's development of his basic philosophical project: the raising of the question of being, and requires an original account of both the philosophy of the history of being and the existential analysis of Dasein, as well as of the so-called Kehre. The critical division, which is founded upon the conclusions of the interpretative division, focuses on the structural grounding that He...

The Hidden Pattern presents a novel philosophy of mind, intended to form a coherent conceptual framework within which it is possible to understand the diverse aspects of mind and intelligence in a unified way. The central concept of the philosophy presented is the concept of “pattern”: minds and the world they live in and co-create are viewed as patterned systems of patterns, evolving over time, and various aspects of subjective experience and individual and social intelligence are analyzed in detail in this light. Many of the ideas presented are motivated by recent research in artificial intelligence and cognitive science, and the author’s own AI research is discussed in moderate detail in one chapter. However, the scope of the book is broader than this, incorporating insight...

This anthology provides a unique collection of articles on classic grounded theory, as developed by sociologist Dr. Barney G. Glaser. Organized in four sections, teaching grounded theory, techniques, history and philosophy, and advanced approaches, the 19 chapters fill gaps and correct misunderstandings about the method. Chapters on the merits of classic grounded theory over other versions, the historical and philosophical influences on the method, and advice for Ph.D. students doing classic grounded theory dissertations will be useful to novice and experienced researchers. How-to chapters on the use of focus groups, online interviews, and video for data collection expand data possibilities, while articles on formal theory, software, and testing concepts with structural equation modeling w...

This book considers the problems of death and the hereafter and how these ages-old problems ought to be addressed in light of our continuing progress. A materialistic viewpoint of reality is assumed, denying the likelihood of supernatural or other superhuman assistance. Death, however, is not seen as inevitable or even irreversible; it is maintained that the problem can and should be addressed scientifically in all of its aspects. The book thus follows recent, immortalist thinking that places hopes in future advances in our understanding and technology. A functionalist, reductionist argument is developed for the possibility of resurrecting the dead through the eventual creation of replicas and related constructs. Meanwhile, it is urged, medical advances leading to the conquest of biologi...

Language, Reality, and Transcendence deals with the later philosophy of Wittgenstein by delving into language, grammar, rule, self, world, culture, and value. Wittgenstein has given a comprehensive philosophy of man and the world and has dealt with the destiny of man by outlining the moral and the spiritual goals of human life. In this work, the nature of Wittgenstein's transcendent metaphysics of man and the ultimate reality has been outlined.

"An attempt has been made," writes the author in his preface, "to show that the development of Greek thought and the peculiar character of Judaism necessarily rendered Christ’s work different from that of Socrates. While dogmatic theology undoubtedly contains very many elements derived from Greek philosophy, Christianity at its source is in no wise Greek. Philosophy partly prepared the way for it, and originated not a few doctrines which afterwards became incorporated in Christian dogma. This, however, was only a secondary relationship." In this attempt, the author avoids making any new groundbreaking assertions, and focuses instead on the main currents of scholarship that the two poles have attracted. In Wenley’s own words, "no pretence is made to trench upon disputed points of creed...

This thesis provides an examination of Disc Jockey (DJ) technology, technique, and aesthetics. The history of popular dance music is explored in an attempt to demonstrate the role that technology has played in the development and future of the DJ aesthetic. Criteria for evaluating and producing Disc Jockey Music Technology is pursued in order to define the fundamentals of dance music and the essence of an authentic DJ performance.

Youniverse is about you and the way things really are--how to improve your chances of a much longer and more satisfying life. It could be called an extension of an old and honorable tradition, that of enlightened self-interest. Traditional ideologies teach sacrifice for something "greater" than yourself, but in the era of cryonics and anti-senescence research, with a little brains and a little luck, you can do much better.

This sentence is false. Is this sentence true? If it is true that the sentence is false then the sentence is true. If it is false that the sentence is false then the sentence is true. This is a logical contradiction. The sentence can not be both true and false simultaneously. The sentence must be true or false. This begins our journey into the nature of the paradox. A paradox is an absurd truth that derives a repugnant conclusion from an unquestionable set of premises. The listener will usually agree with the arguments supporting the conclusion but be unwilling to accept the final inference. To resolve a paradox, we must do one of four things: ignore it, distort it, reject it, or accept it. This thought provoking book, Space, Time, & Reality, seeks to probe the depths...

This dissertation seeks to establish that there is a renaissance of Thomistic Philosophy in the Post-Conciliar Catholic Church, specifically a reawakening of Scholasticism, as evidenced by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Veritatis Splendor. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) ushered in a new era for the Roman Catholic religion prompted by the desire of Pope John XXIII to have the 2,000 year old institution catch up with the modern world and address current problems as well as present the ancient faith in contemporary ways. Prior to Vatican II, there was a monolithic way to explain faith and reason. Theology and Philosophy were rigidly taught via textbook manuals according to a norm established under Pope Pius X who vigorously denounced the errors of Modernism in his encyclical Pas...

The essays in this book delve into the central theme of R.C. Pradhan's philosophy in particular and the issues in analytic philosophy in general. In analytic tradition, Professor Pradhan's research has been extensively in the area of Wittgenstein's philosophy: philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. While philosophizing the notion of language and mind, Pradhan explores the complexities of the web of life. For him, language neatly binds several aspects of life: the cultural, moral, religious, and scientific. The mind, however, represents the inner world of human experience that involves multiple dimensions of consciousness: the bodily, the vital, the mental, and the spiritual consciousness. Considering the broad spectrum of Pradhan’s works, the contributions in this book reflect ma...

William James and John Dewey insisted that pragmatic philosophy finds meaning in its struggle to deal with emergent social problems. Ironically, few have attempted to use pragmatism to articulate methods for ameliorating social difficulties. This dissertation attempts to do just that by putting James' and Dewey's philosophy to work on the moral and scientific problems associated with genetic engineering and the Human Genome Project. The intention is to demonstrate the usefulness of a pragmatic approach to applied ethics and philosophy of biology. The work of proponents and critics of genetic engineering is examined, including LeRoy Hood, Hans Jonas, Leon Kass, Robert Nozick, Jeremy Rifkin, Robyn Rowland, and Paul Ramsey. It is concluded that excessive optimism and pessimism about gene...

This work elaborates R. W. Emerson s modification of S. T. Coleridge s central philosophical-aesthetic notions, such as imagination, reason, genius and symbol. Although Kant s and Schelling s idealistic philosophy, various pantheistic theories and Neoplatonism are identified as Coleridge s and Emerson s congenial intellectual and spiritual background, the author draws yet more attention to subtle differences between the English Romantic Coleridge and the American transcendentalist Emerson, which allow us to recognize that we deal with two distinct philosophical and poetic theories. The first part concentrates on Coleridge s intellectual development from the eager empiricist disciple to a philosopher dedicated to the impossible enterprise of formulating the unifie...

This philosophy of science book is written by a biomedical scientist for a lay audience but is well-referenced for use by scientific readers and college course curricula. Its thesis is that the current paradigm in the biological and medical sciences, which is responsible for rejecting the existence of a Divine Being, is outdated. There is no factual basis for creating a dichotomy between evolution and Divine Design. Misconceptions about the nature of reality, i.e., the belief that matter is the ultimate cause of everything we think, feel, say, and do, have made it easy to ignore data demonstrating an important biological role for the energetic aspects of matter and to leave the question of the existence of a Divine being to the purview of philosophy and religion. The author uses extensive ...

The problematic field of investigation for this study was for the care of bereaved human beings in the context of significant cultural shifts now shaping the twenty-first century. Deritualization was identified as a significant interdisciplinary concern that contributes to potential distress in processes of grieving. The objective of the research was the development of a practical theology of compassionate caregiving for the bereaved with deference to the problem of deritualization. The theoretical framework was guided by the Oxford Interdisciplinary Research model and the Loyola Institute of Ministries model of practical theology. The study was designed for applied research for funeral directors and vocational pastors utilizing qualitative research methods. Hermeneutical and empirical com...

Some unwritten stories only exist in fragments. In this book, for the first time, the histories of the injunction against idolatry and the dread of infinity are uniquely woven into one. The spectre of idolatry has haunted the three Western religions since the biblical prohibition. The story of iconoclasm runs from ancient times, where Jews largely ignored the ban on images, through the iconoclastic episodes in Islam and Christianity, and into modern times during the French Revolution. A perhaps surprising thesis of this book is that a conceptual and secular form of iconoclasm continued as the revulsion of illusionism in Modern Art. More recently it flared-up in the dynamiting of two large statues of the Buddha by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. The phobia of infinity arose from P...

This work was the first sustained philosophical study of psychic phenomena to follow C.D. Broad's LECTURES ON PSYCHICAL RESEARCH, written nearly twenty years earlier. The author clearly defines the categories of psychic phenomena, surveys the most compelling experimental data, and traces their implications for the philosophy of science and the philosophy of mind. He considers carefully the abstract presuppositions underlying leading theories of psychic phenomena, and he offers bold criticisms of both mechanistic analyses of communication and psychophysical identity theories. In addition, he challenges the received view that experimental repeatability is the paramount criterion for evaluating parapsychological research, and he exposes the deep confusions underlying Jung's concept of synchro...

Modern science is in unprecedented crisis. It is a crisis at many levels, continuous with larger crises of modern society. It is a crisis for the vocation of the scientist working within the modern institutionalised structures of science. It is a crisis for our capacity to use science benevolently to help solve larger material, organisational, and ultimately political problems of the modern era. And it is a crisis for philosophy, for the role of natural science to help inform our world-view. The Death of Science is an account of deeper causes of this malaise. It starts by taking up the reins of López Corredoira's (2013) The Twilight of the Scientific Age, a recent critique that concludes with modern science on its death bed. It dissects key themes in detail, illustrated in the same frank ...

The central concern of this book is with the "prediction problem" in biomedical research. In particular, the authors examine the use of animal models to predict human responses in drug and disease research. The arguments discussed are drawn from both biological and biomedical theory (with numerous examples and case studies drawn from evolutionary biology, complex systems theory, oncology, teratology, and AIDS research), and analyses of empirical evidence (concerning, for example, data on intra- and inter-species differences revealed by recent results from genome analyses of various species, human population studies, and statistical studies of the predictive utility of animal models). This book comes to the unique conclusion that while animals can be successfully used for many endeavors in ...

On Hunger focuses on the interface between food and public health and on the flawed regulations intended to protect us. Food not only represents nourishment for the body; it also possesses other valuable aspects that are protected by international legal instruments. Westra argues for the importance of effecting radical changes: to protect and improve the present system of food production and distribution. Starting from several reports produced by the FAO and the WHO, Westra argues for the need of a complete and radical re-evaluatio of current practices and systems in order to meet the obligation of the international community to prevent hunger. There is a particular emphasis on the problems facing the poor in the third world, but also the different but equally grave problems of those in ...

As the sun set on the 20th century, a new age dawned in Japan. This new era, symbolized by the postmodern city of Tokyo, has ushered in not only technological innovation and economic prowess, but changing attitudes and values among Japanese young people. This transformation is not an uncommon or even new phenomenon, but simply the result of modern life. And one of the symptoms of modernity is the prevalence of an “ethics of materialism,” the ever-increasing concern for the acquisition of wealth and commodity goods, sometimes at the expense of the concern for human life itself. Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher whose writings examined topics including, but not limited to, art, history, and politics. His life’s work, published posthumously as The Arcad...

In this research, the author analyzes Derrida's understanding of the way society is created out of a collection of individuals, how the individuals preserve their singularity and freedom within a social system and the meaning of ethics, as it comes out in his early writings. In this work, the researcher used a phenomenological method of research and Cassirer's way of analyzing the symbolic forms as a framework to analyze the early writing of Derrida. Although it is not a common approach to combine Derrida's philosophy with that of Cassirer's, the researcher found that Cassirer's ideas help to show Derrida's unique position.

For centuries, one principle has stood above all others in the medical field: First, do no harm. But has our basic healthcare lost this vital philosophy in its pursuit of advancement and profit? Follow the journey of medicine from its earliest beginnings at the dawn of humanity to the incredible technological advances of the 21st century. By examining key figures and events, this book’s focus on the rationales of pioneering practitioners and the philosophies behind major discoveries sets it apart from current medical and historical literature for both providers and consumers of healthcare.In the age of unprecedented advancements, the evolution of medicine and its underlying philosophies has been cast aside for the pursuit of the next, best development. In the search to provide the best c...

This non-academic author has previously brought you reader’s guides to the depths and subtle pleasures of works by Joyce and Faulkner. With this book he brings you to the ultimate pleasures of Gustave Flaubert’s masterpiece. This author treats Madame Bovary as the Zen novel, working on the reader in the same way Zen works on a disciple. He shows how Flaubert uses a radically new style in order to create a literary breakthrough of a similar order as Zen and has composed the ultimate music of this novel in the counterpoint of style and plot. The style of the novel is grounded in Zen-like detachment and freedom whereas the plot is mired in desire, illusion and determinism. In the plot the inevitable demise of Madame Bovary is driven by her passionate nature and correspondi...

A pleasing translation into rhyming English verse of the primary classic text of Taoist philosophy and religion. It provides a Taoist view of the universe and society that is accessible by non-specialists of all ages.