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 | | The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World (Bradford Books) by Owen J. Flanagan ISBN-10: 9780262062640 ISBN-10: 0-262-06264-X ISBN-13: 9780262062640 ISBN-13: 978-0-262-06264-0 Hardcover 2007-11-01 The MIT Press Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description Honorable Mention, Philosophy category, 2007 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Awards for Excellence Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc. If consciousness is the "hard problem" in mind science—explaining how the amazing private world of consciousness emerges from neuronal activity—then the "really hard problem," writes Owen Flanagan in this provocative book is explaining how meaning is possible in the material world. How can we make sense of the magic and mystery of life naturalistically, without an appeal to the supernatural? How do we say truthful and enchanting things about being human if we accept the fact that we are finite material beings living in a material world, or, in Flanagan's description, short-lived pieces of organized cells and tissue? Flanagan's answer is both naturalistic and enchanting. We all wish to live in a meaningful way, to live a life that really matters, to flourish, to achieve eudaimonia—to be a "happy spirit." Flanagan calls his "empirical-normative" inquiry into the nature, causes, and conditions of human flourishing eudaimonics. Eudaimonics, systematic philosophical investigation that is continuous with science, is the naturalist's response to those who say that science has robbed the world of the meaning that fantastical, wishful stories once provided. Flanagan draws on philosophy, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and psychology, as well as on transformative mindfulness and self-cultivation practices that come from such nontheistic spiritual traditions as Buddhism, Confucianism, Aristotelianism, and Stoicism, in his quest. He gathers from these disciplines knowledge that will help us understand the nature, causes, and constituents of well-being and advance human flourishing. Eudaimonics can help us find out how to make a difference, how to contribute to the accumulation of good effects—how to live a meaningful life. | ||
Reviews | ||
Worth the time This book is not the easiest of reads, but is quite worth the time needed to fully understand the material. If you have spare time and are willing to take on a book that requires a fair amount of thought then you will not be disappointed in what Owen Flanagan has to offer. | ||
VERY difficult to read Let me say up front that I did not finish this book - and that's my point. I found it completely impossible to read, and I read a lot of popular science type books. It was not worth my time to slog through. | ||
I'm New to Review...ergo, Guten tag sage ich! The book was in A+ condition; thus, AAA+++..........but, did you ever read this book? It is, even though the author is a Harvard professor, low E.Q.*, tedious, convoluted, and (as smart as the author is) not incisive, and unfortunately, it is lacking in a truly deep perspective. * As most educated persons know, E.Q. is a much more precise measure of intelligence than I.Q. is. | ||
Read it but be careful about the errors! The author mixes his naturalism, that all will end with death and that there is no afterlife, with a gutted version of Buddhism. Flanagan's Buddhism has no personal salvation and no rebirth and no karmic eschatologies. Flanagan believes that his naturalism and stripped down Buddhism (and what he calls Jesusism (the true teaching of Jesus)) leads to a universal love and compassion ethic. This will enable a person to live a life of personal happiness and connect him to a goal beyond personal desires and will give meaning to his life. In fact Flanagan recommends optimistic realism or joyful optimistic realism in the face of the reality that all will end with death. It seems to me that such a view is demonstrably wrong. I thought of parents who have lost their children. Can they view life in a joyful optimistic manner? What is the meaning of the life of a 1-year old child who dies? Can such a child live a meaningful life? What is the meaning of the life of a 20-year old soldier who dies in the battle field? What is the meaning of the lives of those who died in Nazi war camps, or Stalinist Gulags? It seems to me that Mr. Flanagan's philosophy simply reflects his experiences of life and ignores other experiences. By stripping Buddhism of the ideas of personal salvation and afterlife with its associated Karmic eschatologies, Mr. Flanagan deprives life of all its meaning. Mr. Flanagan doesn't understand that it is not possible to live a universal love ethic without attaining salvation when you actually experience oneness with all. A parent who looses his young child is unlikely to have solace if he allows himself to be guided by Mr. Flanagan's view. It seems to me that Albert Camus was honest to admit in his book, 'The myth of Sisyphus' that naturalism makes it hard to answer the question as to why we should not live and commit suicide. Adding a gutted Buddhism will not fill the hole in a parent's heart. The author shows a complete lack of understanding of Hindu thought. This is surprising since he claims that he has "been doing serious work in comparative philosophy for more than 10 years now, first in Indian Philosophy.." (Positive Psychology and Well-Being' in chapter 2). Let me give a list of his errors and my response: ERROR LIST 1. "..unlike the Vedic tradition of India ..., Buddhistic scriptures are scriptures that are decidedly not thought to be divinely authored." (in Buddhist Epistemology and Scientific Epistemology in Chapter 3.) That is not true. No scripture in the Vedic tradition is divinely authored. There is a division of Sruti (heard) and Smriti (memory) but no divinely authored Vedic scripture. 2. "First, no real Buddha is omniscient; he is just very enlightened." (in Evolution section of chapter 3). I am very doubtful about this claim. In Indic tradition enlightenment gives rise to omniscience. 3. Mr. Flanagan keeps making the atman reincarnate or reborn several times in the book: a) ".. one's atman is reincarnated..(in Appendix 1 Buddhism and rebirth of chapter 3), b) .."reincarnation (in which my atman is reborn).."(in Appendix 1 Buddhism and rebirth of chapter 3), c) "It is I, Owen, the atman, that gets reborn.."(in Appendix 1 Buddhism and rebirth of chapter 3), d) "..no person's atman can be reborn..." (in note 1 of chapter 3). Atman is never born nor does it die as is clear from the following Gita verses: He (this Self or Atman) has neither birth nor death. Nor does he cease to be, having been in existence before; unborn, eternal, permanent and primeval, he is never killed when the body is killed. (Gita 2.20) O Arjuna! know this Self (Atman) to be eternal, undecaying, birthless and indestructible. A person who knows him to be so - how and whom can he kill, how and whom can he cause to be killed? (Gita 2.21) Atman, the pure luminous awareness or consciousness, is never reborn. What is reborn? It is the Linga Sarira or subtle body that is reborn and not the Atman. 4. "Some commentators say that, in the time of Buddha, Vedic beliefs involved that puffed-up idea that Atman was divine, (the microcosmic twin of the macrocosmic Divine Brahman." (in Note 25 of chapter 3). This position is still held by Hindus who follow Advaita Vedanta. I myself hold it. There is also nothing puffed-up about it. Atman is luminous, pure consciousness or awareness. Brahman is luminous, pure consciousness or awareness. So how can one distinguish between the two? 5. Mr. Flanagan is all at sea as to how the Karmic system works: "It is not 100 percent clear what or who orchestrates the system of Karmic payoffs.. Perhaps Brahman, the creative source behind the universe, "makes the decisions" about the reincarnations.. How this came to happen is obscure" (in Appendix 1 Buddhism and rebirth of chapter 3). This suggests that Mr. Flanagan has not taken the trouble to actually read Hindu scriptures. There is no obscurity here. The answer is given in Brahma Sutra of Vyasa (or Badarayana). It is Isvar who distributes the fruits of one's Karma. Isvar is the Personal aspect of Brahman. Brahman does not create. 6. "Buddhism rejects the caste system on ethical grounds." ( in Philosophical Foundations of Buddhism:NO God, No Self of Chapter 3). There is no support in Hindu (SRUTI) scriptures of caste system either. Hindu scripture (Sruti and Gita) talks of Varna system. Buddha did support the Varna system of Hindu scripture as is clear from the "Brahman" chapter of Dhammapada. Some additional Comments: I noticed that Mr. Flanagan has noticed the inconsistencies of Buddhism: a) ".. such ideas are conceptually unstable without a God to orchestrate the karmic system...." (Appendis 1 of chapter 3). Karma without God can not operate since Karmic arrow is insentient. I know of many Buddhists who worship Hindu Gods. b) Mr. Flanagan quotes an article "On the luminosity of being" written by the Dalai Lama where he writes:"Now I'd like to say more about the fundamental nature of the mind. There is no reason to believe that the innate mind, the very essential luminous nature of awareness, has neural correlates, because it is not physical, not contingent upon the brain. So while agree with neuroscience that gross mental events correlate with brain activity, I also feel that on a more subtle level of consciousness, brain and mind are two separate entities." This luminous awareness that is independent of brain and is not physical is the Atman of the Hindus. So Do Buddhists really reject the Atman? To sum up I am very skeptical about this mixing of a gutted Buddhism with naturalism. It is like mixing water and fire. Still I do recommend this book but with a caveat. The book is littered with errors about Indian philosophy. | ||
Secular Meaning, Secular Enchantmnent The Really Hard Problem by Owen J. Flanagan Without god, angels, fairies or devils, demons or trolls, how can we become enchanted (again) or terrorized, for that matter, in our purely natural mundane world? Well, look around--there's secular mystery aplenty (& terror sans devil, for that matter). In showing the harmfulness of "positive illusions, he offers each of us, as a potential eudaimon, various "Spaces of Meaning" to explore, one of which is a real world spiritually--a humanist appreciation, & connection with our natural world, its intricate laws & the limitless cosmos. Other needed Spaces include Science, Art, Technology, Politics & Ethics. With an eye to locating within them their respective Truths, Beauties & Goodness, we must inhabit--study, learn, enjoy, practice--all of these spaces at appropriate times, singly or in combination in due measure if we are to become a complete human beings in a well lived life. Despite it seriousness this is a good-humored book, but rather difficult reading for me. Be prepared, you of a similar sort, to look up some hard words & even check your Plato. Professor Flanagan, an accomplished lecturer, has a witty winning way with which he convincingly dispenses with supernatural notions embedded in our language & behavior. The old enchantment dazzled but hid the truth from us. Experimental data aplenty is included to support his conclusions. Life is more wonderful, more rewarding, more "enchanting" without its superstition, without its good or bad bogeymen. | ||