"The problem of the relation between mind and brain has been among the most persistent in modern Western thought, one that even recent advances in neuroscience haven't been able to put to rest. Historian Larry McGrath's Making Spirit Matter is about how a particularly productive and influential generation of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century French thinkers attempted to answer this puzzle by showing the mutual dependence of spirit and matter. The veritable revolution taking place across disciplines, from philosophy to psychology, located our spiritual powers in the brain and offered a radical reformulation of the meaning of science, spirit, and the self. Pulling out connections between thinkers such as Bergson, Blondel, and FouilleáI p1 se, among others, McGrath plots the intellectual movements that brought back to life themes of agency, time, and experience by putting into action the very sciences that seemed to undermine metaphysics and theology. In so doing, Making Spirit Matter lays bare the long legacy of this moment in the history of ideas and how it might renew our understanding of the relationship between mind and brain"--

The connection between mind and brain has been one of the most persistent problems in modern Western thought; even recent advances in neuroscience haven’t been able to explain it satisfactorily. Historian Larry Sommer McGrath’s Making Spirit Matter studies how a particularly productive and influential group of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century French thinkers attempted to solve this puzzle by showing the mutual dependence of spirit and matter. The scientific revolution taking place at this point in history across disciplines, from biology to psychology and neurology, located our mental powers in the brain and offered a radical reformulation of the meaning of society, spirit, and the self. Tracing connections among thinkers such as Henri Bergson, Alfred Fouillée, Jean-Marie Guyau, and others, McGrath plots alternative intellectual movements that revived themes of creativity, time, and experience by applying the very sciences that seemed to undermine metaphysics and religion. Making Spirit Matter lays out the long legacy of this moment in the history of ideas and how it might renew our understanding of the relationship between mind and brain today.

Stock options and high earnings are no replacement for a sense of meaning and purpose for one's life. Living in a society whose "bottom line" is "looking out for number one" has undermined friendships, made relationships difficult, produced alienation and loneliness-and has been used to justify corporate social irresponsibility and environmental destructiveness. Selfishness and materialism permeate our relationships in work and in personal life, while we are taught to keep our spiritual life and our moral vision away from the public sphere. Spirit Matters shows how deeply we've been hurt personally, emotionally, ecologically, and politically by living in a world that systematically represses our spiritual needs-and how we might create a personal life and society that embodies what Michael Lerner describes as an Emancipatory Spirituality. It is a spirituality that affirms that there is enough, that generosity, atonement, joy, and celebration of the grandeur of the universe can be basic building blocks in constructing our own lives together. Spirit Matters demonstrates that the time is now to stop compromising with a world whose fundamentals are so far from our own highest values and begin to create the world we privately tell ourselves we really believe in. Don't be misled by the easy and accessible style of Lerner's writings: Spirit Matters is a profound new contribution to social theory and spiritual practice, and a new framework for thinking about childhood, loving relationships, the world of work, politics, law, education, and ecology. It is on the cutting edge of contemporary thought and yet speaks to the heart and soul. Spirit Matters speaks both to people who have tended to think that "spirit" is an empty category for religious zealots or a reactionary tool of repression, as well as to those who take spirituality seriously in their personal lives but who have yet realized that their spiritual practice could be the basis for a fundamental transformation of the world.

Hundreds of buildings, thousands of people, countless stories&—there&’s always more to learn about Penn State, no matter how much time you&’ve spent there. This Is Penn State: An Insider&’s Guide to the University Park Campus will enlighten anyone with an interest in the University, from visiting parents to lifelong State College residents. This Is Penn State documents the rich history beneath the surface of the Penn State experience, offering facts and figures, essays and anecdotes, obscure trivia, notable quotations, and a wealth of other information about Penn State&’s past, present, and future. Forty of the University&’s most prominent buildings and areas are highlighted, accompanied by more than 120 illustrations, ranging from historical photographs to architectural sketches of buildings not yet completed. Essays by veteran Penn Staters Leon Stout, Craig Zabel, and Gabriel Welsch cover Penn State&’s history, architecture, and changing physical landscape. And when you want to get outside and see the campus firsthand, This Is Penn State is your guidebook to University Park. The four detailed maps take you on a west-to-east walking tour of Penn State&’s buildings, allowing you to understand the development of each area of campus. Over the last 150 years, Penn State has been devoted to scholarship, research, and community service. In honor of the University&’s sesquicentennial and in celebration of the Press&’s fiftieth anniversary, the Penn State Press is proud to offer This Is Penn State as its gift to everyone who feels a connection with &“dear old State.&”

If we knew just how mind affects body and how body affects mind we should have the clew to many a philosophical riddle, and a clew that would give us much-needed guidance not only in philosophy but in many a region of practical, moral, and religious activity and experience in which our generation is groping rather blindly and is longing very eagerly for more light. -from the Preface Developed from a series of lectures Pratt delivered at Yale Divinity School in 1922, this is classic work of modern philosophy, an outspoken defense of dualism: the idea that the physical brain and the mental mind are two distinct entities. With its dramatic impact upon contemporary understandings of human consciousness, religious belief and spirituality, and even the biological evolution of sentience on the planet Earth, this is readable guide to a complex concept that underlies the modern debate between faith and reason. American philosopher JAMES BISSETT PRATT (1875-1944) was professor of philosophy at Williams College from 1905 to 1943. He is also the author of The Psychology of Religious Belief (1905), Democracy and Peace (1916), Reason in the Art of Living (1949), and Eternal Values of Religion (1950).