The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes [Paperback]

Mortimer J. Adler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0823215350 | ISBN-13: 978-0823215355 | Publication Date: January 1, 1993 | Edition: 2

In this classic work, Adler explores how man differs from all other things in the universe, bringing to bear both philosophical insight and informed scientific hypotheses concerning the biological and behavioral characteristics of mainkind. Rapid advances in science and technology and the abstract concepts of that influence on man and human value systems are lucidly outlined by Adler, as he touches on the effect of industrialization, and the clash of cultures and value systems brought about by increased communication between previously isolated groups of people. Among the other problems this study addresses are the scientific achievements in biology and physics which have raised fundamental questions about humanity's essential nature, especially the discoveries in the bilogical relatedness of all living things. Thrown into high relief is humanity's struggle to determine its unique status in the natual world and its value in the world it has created. Ultimately, Adler's work develops an approach to the separation between scientific and philosophical questions which stands as a model of thought on philosophical considerations of new scientific discoveries and its consequences for the human person.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mortimer J. Adler was the director of the Institute for Philosophical Research in Chicago and a member of the board of editors of the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Product Details

• Paperback: 395 pages
• Publisher: Fordham University Press; 2 edition (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823215350
• ISBN-13: 978-0823215355
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #684,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mortimer Jerome Adler (December 28, 1902 - June 28, 2001) was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo. He worked for Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, and Adler's own Institute for Philosophical Research. Adler was married twice and had four children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough insight into man and animal cognition, January 7, 2003

By 

Scott M. Sullivan (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes (Paperback)

Dr Adler here gives us a fine presentation and analysis of animal cognition and how it corresponds with human knowledge. The distinctions Adler offers here are timeless and crucial. The answer to this question of the difference in man and animals is neither purely scientific, nor purely philosophical; rather a combined approach is needed. The relevant question to be answered is "Does man differ from the rest of the animal kingdom by degree or by kind, and if by kind is this difference radical or superficial?" Adler, using a traditional Aristotelian and Thomistic analysis of the modern research while combining it with the more recent positions of other philosophers and scientists, concludes that it is a difference in kind and that this difference is indeed radical. Man is a different "kind" of thing than the other creatures that inhabit our planet.

Adler is indeed fair and objective throughout. We must look at the operation of the creature in question, and in this case - articulation indicates what a given creature does in fact "know". The argument for difference in kind turns on man's ability to articulate "designators", that is verbalized concepts in both their connotative and denotative form. There is no evidence that animal communication is expressive in this way. The data that has resulted from inquiring into animal intelligence suggests no more than an ability of perceptual abstraction, whether memorized or immediate. Mankind articulates designators and these articulations cannot be explained by mere sense perception or any perceptual generalization for the very fact that such designators are inherently non - perceptible. Not only does man attribute and recognize particulars as members of abstract classes or the classes themselves, he has the additional ability to express concepts that are not empirically observable at all; i.e. "God", logical relations such as "inference", pi, etc. Thus, the negative edge of Ockham's razor prevents us from attributing conceptual awareness on the part of animals yet the positive edge of this principle of parsimony demands such additional attribution to mankind.

Next, Adler, using a traditional argument from Aquinas and Aristotle, argues that this ability must be immaterial due to the immaterial nature of the concept - a "class" or "universal" that cannot by definition be material and hence not merely an act of the physical brain.

Adler is fair throughout his contention. As an example he admits that his immateriality position would be falsified by a "Turing machine" a computer robot that would be able to communicate with humans via propositional words and sentence formation. This is the third prong of the "Cartesian Challenge" as asserted by Rene Descartes centuries ago. If a purely physical machine can achieve conceptual thought and propositional language, then Adler admits his immateriality theory on which conceptual thought is based would be falsified.

The benefits of this work go far beyond the main issue of human/animal distinction. The bibliography is outstanding. The footnotes are insightful and nearly comprise a second work on their own. Peripheral issues such as theories of human knowledge ala Locke, Kant, and the Aristotelian "triadic" relation of words - concepts - object are explained here along with a lucid discussion of "intention" and "meaning". Most importantly, the final chapter illustrates why such a discussion on the distinction between man and animal is important highlighting the relevant moral and theological questions that are implicated by the results.

3 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Connection Between Consciousness and Language, March 12, 2001

By 

Thomas Schaffter "chaostls" (Golden, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes (Paperback)

Adler believes that morality requires consciousness and that our best (only?) evidence of a being being conscious is its linguistic behavior.

Compare Adler's thesis with Julian Jaynes' (Origin of Consciousness in the Break Down of the Bicameral Mind) and with Douglas Hofstadter's comments, pp. P6-P7, in the new preface to the 20th-anniversary edition of Godel, Escher, Bach. Also compare with the Turing Test.