Product Description

A compelling account of why naturalism, or the 'scientific world-view' cannot provide a full account of who and what we are as human beings. Drawing on sources including Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Husserl and Sartre.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1183755 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Review
'Professor Olafson's book presents in an evenly paced and philosophically erudite but accessible manner a position that has most important implications for current philosophy of perception and mind in general.' - Professor Alastair Hannay, University of Oslo

'Olafson's work will prove to be a very useful text for students and for a general, non-academic audience. It will join the company of recent works by Anglo-American philosophers which, in various ways, offer up some resistance to the current dominance of scientific naturalism.' - David R. Cerbone, West Virginia University

From the Back Cover


Naturalism and the Human Condition: Against Scientism is a clear and compelling exploration of why naturalism, or the scientific world-view, misrepresents what we really are as human beings.

Frederick Olafson offers up alternative ways of thinking about the human condition that have long been unrecognized by naturalists. Avoiding the metaphysical, he presses us to take a closer look at our human sense of being in the world, and shows that in its attempt to investigate human consciousness and intelligence, naturalism can only be understood through the very conceptual models that it rejects. Tracing the history of naturalism and its opponents and drawing on a wide range of sources, including Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Husserl and Sartre, Olafson skilfully exposes the problems inherent in naturalism and raises some vital questions. The central chapters of the book discuss the implications of this on three main areas of the philosophy of mind: perception, language and brain-function.

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About the Author
Frederick A. Olafson is one of the principal interpreters of the thought of Martin Heidegger in the English-speaking world. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego.