The modern materialist approach to life has conspicuously failed to explain such central mind-related features of our world as consciousness, intentionality, meaning, and value. This failure to account for something so integral to nature as mind, argues philosopher Thomas Nagel, is a major problem, threatening to unravel the entire naturalistic world picture, extending to biology, evolutionary theory, and cosmology. Since minds are features of biological systems that have developed through evolution, the standard materialist version of evolutionary biology is fundamentally incomplete. And the cosmological history that led to the origin of life and the coming into existence of the conditions for evolution cannot be a merely materialist history, either. An adequate conception of nature would have to explain the appearance in the universe of materially irreducible conscious minds, as such. Nagel's skepticism is not based on religious belief or on a belief in any definite alternative. In Mind and Cosmos, he does suggest that if the materialist account is wrong, then principles of a different kind may also be at work in the history of nature, principles of the growth of order that are in their logical form teleological rather than mechanistic. In spite of the great achievements of the physical sciences, reductive materialism is a world view ripe for displacement. Nagel shows that to recognize its limits is the first step in looking for alternatives, or at least in being open to their possibility.

"Biophilia" is the term coined by Edward O. Wilson to describe what he believes is humanity's innate affinity for the natural world. In his landmark book Biophilia, he examined how our tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes might be a biologically based need, integral to our development as individuals and as a species. That idea has caught the imagination of diverse thinkers. The Biophilia Hypothesis brings together the views of some of the most creative scientists of our time, each attempting to amplify and refine the concept of biophilia. The variety of perspectives -- psychological, biological, cultural, symbolic, and aesthetic -- frame the theoretical issues by presenting empirical evidence that supports or refutes the hypothesis. Numerous examples illustrate the idea that biophilia and its converse, biophobia, have a genetic component: fear, and even full-blown phobias of snakes and spiders are quick to develop with very little negative reinforcement, while more threatening modern artifacts -- knives, guns, automobiles -- rarely elicit such a response people find trees that are climbable and have a broad, umbrella-like canopy more attractive than trees without these characteristics people would rather look at water, green vegetation, or flowers than built structures of glass and concrete The biophilia hypothesis, if substantiated, provides a powerful argument for the conservation of biological diversity. More important, it implies serious consequences for our well-being as society becomes further estranged from the natural world. Relentless environmental destruction could have a significant impact on our quality of life, not just materially but psychologically and even spiritually.

Reissued on the tenth anniversary of its publication, this classic work on our environmental crisis features a new introduction by the author, reviewing both the progress and ground lost in the fight to save the earth. This impassioned plea for radical and life-renewing change is today still considered a groundbreaking work in environmental studies. McKibben's argument that the survival of the globe is dependent on a fundamental, philosophical shift in the way we relate to nature is more relevant than ever. McKibben writes of our earth's environmental cataclysm, addressing such core issues as the greenhouse effect, acid rain, and the depletion of the ozone layer. His new introduction addresses some of the latest environmental issues that have risen during the 1990s. The book also includes an invaluable new appendix of facts and figures that surveys the progress of the environmental movement. More than simply a handbook for survival or a doomsday catalog of scientific prediction, this classic, soulful lament on Nature is required reading for nature enthusiasts, activists, and concerned citizens alike.

This book is unique in expanding the boundaries of neuroscience, while remaining solidly grounded within it. In this, it outlines a new plateau of wider integrative understanding both within and beyond neuroscience. The book advances the view and implications of an integrated functional unity of consciousness and brain, inclusive of freedom of will. It reaches from first principles of human awareness and apprehension and the physical foundations of consciousness, through a structured integrative view of consciousness and the brain, to outlines of the ambient contextual influences of human living. Comprehensive overviews of brain theory and theoretical neuroscience are given. Fundamental brain functions of human apprehension, language, value, aesthetics, rational and extrarational knowing, biological primals, and adaptive integrations are seen to operate within such ambient influences as whole of nature, human plight, circumstances, personal life, good and evil, inner depths, worlds of man, and enlightenments.Prof Ronald MacGregor has published extensively in theoretical neuroscience since 1965, consistently advocating the foundationality of physiology and physical law in brain-mind function. His work has helped ground neuroelectric signaling within physical science and characterize the neuroelectric patterns of neurons and neural networks.

What are scientific theories? Do they provide knowledge of reality? What does it mean to call ourselves atheist, theist, or agnostic? Do these words describe the complexity of belief? In Adventure in Human Knowledges and Beliefs, readers are adjudicators who “measure” the acceptability of knowledges and beliefs. Andrew Ralls Woodward leads readers through an adventure which includes the philosophy of science, religious studies, and theology. Chapters are concise, but thorough, including introductions to the works of pertinent scholars. Woodward presents readers with philosophical and theological tools used to create a mental “knowledge bar,” a measuring bar for knowledge, as well as a science and religion compatibility system between knowledge and belief communities. The conflict of science and religion is approached in a neutral fashion from the “outside” making Adventure in Human Knowledges and Beliefs a valuable resource for teenagers, adults, and working professionals from diverse ages and career backgrounds.