Natural Philosophy

Paul Thagard is a distinguished philosopher and cognitive scientist who has written many books, including The Brain and the Meaning of Life (Princeton University Press, 2010) and The Cognitive Science of Science (MIT Press, 2012). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Cognitive Science Society, and the Association for Psychological Science.

• Preface Acknowledgments 1. Philosophy Matters Why Philosophy?What is Philosophy?Issues and Alternatives: Ways of PhilosophizingElements of Natural PhilosophyOverview of This BookSummary and DiscussionNotes to Chapter 1: Philosophy Matters2. Mind Mental Processes Issues and Alternatives Neural Mechanisms Semantic Pointers Inference to the Best Explanation to Multilevel Materialism Philosophical Objections Consciousness Summary and Discussion Notes to Chapter 2: Mind Chapter 3. Knowledge Minds and Knowledge Issues and Alternatives What is Knowledge? The Growth of Knowledge Justification Probability Knowledge is Social Conceptual Change and the Brain Revolution Summary and Discussion Notes to Chapter 3: Knowledge 4. Reality Make Reality Great Again Issues and Alternatives Existence Truth Space and Time Groups and Society Summary and Discussion Notes to Chapter 4: Reality 5. Explanation Knowledge Meets Reality Issues and Alternatives Styles of Explanation Emotional and Social Aspects of Explanation Causality Reduction and Emergence Summary and Discussion Notes to Chapter 5: Explanation 6. Morality Right and Wrong Issues and Alternatives Values Moral Emotions Objective Values and Rational Emotions Needs The Needs of Others Empathy Conflicting Needs and Ethical Coherence Why is There Evil? Summary and Discussion Notes to Chapter 6: Morality 7. Justice From Morality to Justice Issues and Alternatives Just Societies: Needs Sufficiency Just Governments Just Social Change Basic Income Summary and Discussion Notes to Chapter 7: Justice 8. Meaning Language and Life Issues and Alternatives Language and Mental Representation The Meanings of Life Meaning of Death Summary and Discussion Notes to Chapter 8: Meaning 9. Beauty and Beyond Aesthetics Issues and Alternatives Beauty in Painting Other Emotions in Painting Creativity in Painting Beauty in Music Other Emotions in Music Creativity in Music Empathy in Literature and Film Summary and Discussion Notes to Chapter 9: Beauty and Beyond 10. Future Philosophy Looking Backwards and Forwards Free Will Mathematical Knowledge and Reality Non-Humans: Animals and Machines Summary and Discussion Notes to Chapter 10: Future Philosophy References Index

Thagard embraces what he calls the "three analysis" method-i.e., providing exemplars, typical features, and explanations. He applies this methodology extensively throughout the text to philosophical questions related to such topics as mind, knowledge, reality, morality, meaning, and beauty. Though this strategy "does not yield answers that reign with unchallengeable certainty," as Thagard writes in chapter 1, it does provide answers-or, better, hypotheses that are consistent with a metaphysics based in scientific realism and an epistemology based in reliable coherentism.