We all need wisdom
Why live?
Sources of wisdom
Philosophical approaches
The relevance of minds and brains
Looking ahead
Evidence beats faith
Faith versus evidence
How faith works
How evidence works
Evidence and inference in science
Medicine : evidence or faith?
Evidence, truth, and God
A priori reasoning and thought experiments
Minds are brains
The brain revolution
Evidence that minds are brains
Evidence for dualism
Objections to mind-brain identity
Who are you?
How brains know reality
Reality and its discontents
Knowing objects
Appearance and reality
Concepts
Knowledge beyond perception
Coherence in the brain
Coherence and truth
How brains feel emotions
Emotions matter
Valuations in the brain
Cognitive appraisal versus bodily perception
Synthesis : the emocon model
Emotional consciousness
Multilevel explanations
Rationality and affective afflictions
How brains decide
Big decisions
Inference to the best plan
Decisions in the brain
Changing goals
How to make bad decisions
Living without free will
Why life is worth living
The meaning of life
Nihilism
Happiness
Goals and meaning
Love
Work
Play
Needs and hopes
Wants versus needs
Vital needs
How love, work, and play satisfy needs
Balance, coherence, and change
Hope versus despair
Ethical brains
Ethical decisions
Conscience and moral intuitions
Mirror neurons
Empathy
Moral motivation
Ethical theory
Moral objectivity
Responsibility
Making sense of it all
Connections made
Wisdom gained
What kind of government should countries have?
How can creative change be produced?
What is mathematical knowledge?
Why is there something and not nothing?
The future of wisdom.
OBNB doesn't sell books, but you may be able to find a copy at one of these websites:
The brain and the meaning of life by Paul Thagard. ISBN 9780691142722. Published by Princeton University Press in 2010. Publication and catalogue information, links to buy online and reader comments.
