Screen LibraryThe edge of reason : a rational skeptic in an irrational world /
"Reason, long held as the highest human achievement, is under siege. According to Aristotle, the capacity for reason sets us apart from other animals, yet today it has ceased to be a universally admired faculty. Rationality and reason have become political, disputed concepts, subject to easy di...
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| Main Authors: | |
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| Published: |
Yale University Press,
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| Publisher Address: | New Haven : |
| Publication Dates: | [2016] |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
"Reason, long held as the highest human achievement, is under siege. According to Aristotle, the capacity for reason sets us apart from other animals, yet today it has ceased to be a universally admired faculty. Rationality and reason have become political, disputed concepts, subject to easy dismissal. Julian Baggini argues eloquently that we must recover our reason and reassess its proper place, neither too highly exalted nor completely maligned. Rationality does not require a sterile, scientistic worldview, it simply involves the application of critical thinking wherever thinking is needed. Addressing such major areas of debate as religion, science, politics, psychology, and economics, the author calls for commitment to the notion of a "community of reason," where disagreements are settled by debate and discussion, not brute force or political power. His insightful book celebrates the power of reason, our best hope--indeed our only hope--for dealing with the intractable quagmires of our time."--Jacket. |
| Carrier Form: | ix, 262 pages ; 23 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [252]-257) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780300208238 (hardback : alkaline paper) : 0300208235 (hardback : alkaline paper) |
| Index Number: | BC177 |
| CLC: | B025.5 |
| Call Number: | B025.5/B144 |
| Contents: | pt. I: The judge : The eternal God argument ; Science for humans ; Rationality and judgement -- pt. II: The guide : Lives of the mind ; The challenge of psychology ; Guided by reason -- pt. III: The motivator : Rational morality ; Scientific morality ; The claims of reason -- pt. IV: The king : The rational state ; Political reason -- Conclusion : Using reason. |