Customer Reviews

Self Expressions: Mind, Morals, and the Meaning of Life (Philosophy of Mind)

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Flanagan is in the avant garde of a slowly growing branch in philosophy; those that use philosophy of mind to foray and forage into ethical theory. To me, the discilpine makes all too much sense. After all we have to have figured out (to some degree) who we are and how our selves are 'ourselves' before we can make many informed decisions on how we live.

The book remains very true to its subtitle. The first essays are very much on the mind (from a neurological and phychological standpoint. Warning: these essays repeat much of what Flanagan has written in "Consiousness Reconsidered" and subsequently in "Dreaming Souls". Of note are the essays "Is a science of the conscious mind possible" where Flanagan champions his brand of holism: taking the data from philosophy, psychology, neurology, evolutionary biology and possibly even religion. The mistake most pessimists make, Flanagan argues, is they ignore or discount the 'soft' sciences like psychology and philosophy and focus on the 'hard' ones. The problem is the 'hard' can answer the what quetions, but the 'soft' are the only ones that could possibly answer the 'why' and 'how'. Also of note is an essay on multiple personality disorder and how it is possible to have more than one self. Suprisingly, Flanagan suggests that we all, in a sense, have multiple selves - we are just better at integrating them so they are more like 'sub-selves'.

The next bit focuses on morality. Of note here is an essay called "I remember you" about the risky businesss of recovering memory. Flanagan, unsuprisingly, shows that it is rare that a memory will recall how the event actually was, but, that usually they embelish themselves a little. He even offers a fun personal example of a false memory he had and how the memory - not the event as it happened - was what affected his life the most. Also, an essay called "Children, other minds and honesty" explores the gradual process children go through learning that and how other people think, and by extension, how to act with them.

The next set of essays covers "the meaning of life". Flanagan is pretty close to pragmatism, in that, he freely admits that we create our own values, but it is as much a social as a personal process. Sometimes morals get in the way of values we've set for ourselves, and sometimes they accord completely. Like James, Dewey, and O.W. Holmes, Flanagan reasizes that morals are instruments and are more 'guidelines' than 'laws'.

Overall a solid book that represents all three subjects - mind, morals and the meaning of life - with equal care, grace, and excitement. As I said, those who've read Flanagans books before will find much re-used information here, but as his ideas are always engrossing, it may just be worth hearing some of them again.

Flanagan is in the avant garde of a slowly growing branch in philosophy; those that use philosophy of mind to foray and forage into ethical theory. To me, the discilpine makes all too much sense. After all we have to have figured out (to some degree) who we are and how our selves are 'ourselves' before we can make many informed decisions on how we live.

The book remains very true to its subtitle. The first essays are very much on the mind (from a neurological and phychological standpoint. Warning: these essays repeat much of what Flanagan has written in "Consiousness Reconsidered" and subsequently in "Dreaming Souls". Of note are the essays "Is a science of the conscious mind possible" where Flanagan champions his brand of holism: taking the data from philosophy, psychology, neurology, evolutionary biology and possibly even religion. The mistake most pessimists make, Flanagan argues, is they ignore or discount the 'soft' sciences like psychology and philosophy and focus on the 'hard' ones. The problem is the 'hard' can answer the what quetions, but the 'soft' are the only ones that could possibly answer the 'why' and 'how'. Also of note is an essay on multiple personality disorder and how it is possible to have more than one self. Suprisingly, Flanagan suggests that we all, in a sense, have multiple selves - we are just better at integrating them so they are more like 'sub-selves'.

The next bit focuses on morality. Of note here is an essay called "I remember you" about the risky businesss of recovering memory. Flanagan, unsuprisingly, shows that it is rare that a memory will recall how the event actually was, but, that usually they embelish themselves a little. He even offers a fun personal example of a false memory he had and how the memory - not the event as it happened - was what affected his life the most. Also, an essay called "Children, other minds and honesty" explores the gradual process children go through learning that and how other people think, and by extension, how to act with them.

The next set of essays covers "the meaning of life". Flanagan is pretty close to pragmatism, in that, he freely admits that we create our own values, but it is as much a social as a personal process. Sometimes morals get in the way of values we've set for ourselves, and sometimes they accord completely. Like James, Dewey, and O.W. Holmes, Flanagan reasizes that morals are instruments and are more 'guidelines' than 'laws'.

Overall a solid book that represents all three subjects - mind, morals and the meaning of life - with equal care, grace, and excitement. As I said, those who've read Flanagans books before will find much re-used information here, but as his ideas are always engrossing, it may just be worth hearing some of them again.