Thinking about Thinking is published by Darin Jewell
Released on = December 23, 2005, 10:09 am
Press Release Author = Darin Jewell
Industry = Entertainment
Press Release Summary = Thinking About Thinking is a based on a series of lectures delivered at Harvard University in 1996 by Professors Alan Dershowitz (lawyer), Robert Nozick (philosopher) and Stephen Jay Gould (paleontologist) about perennial issues such as truth, free will, race, gender and religion.
Press Release Body = Book Description: Thinking About Thinking explores how differently thinkers from various disciplines approach issues of common interest. The book is based on a series of lectures delivered at Harvard University by Professors Alan Dershowitz (lawyer), Robert Nozick (philosopher) and Stephen Jay Gould (paleontologist). Each of these thinkers explains his particular perspective on the issue at hand and subsequently comments on the views of the others. Each speaks from within his respective discipline, but not for the discipline as a whole. Rather, this work is essentially a dialogue between a lawyer, a philosopher and a scientist who have, over the years, influenced the views of many within their fields.
In the first chapter, issues of line-drawing and classification are addressed. How do we decide whether a given entity is a person? How do we determine whether a person is alive or dead? What are the boundaries that define an object? How does classification work? Do we discover categories by looking at the world around us, or do we impose categories on the world? Are there general criteria for deciding whether a particular system of classification \"works\"? What sorts of problems do borderline cases create for systems of classification?
In chapter two, the differences between philosophical, scientific and legal truth are discussed in two parts. In the first section, the speakers focus on defining truth. Problems of relativism and the myth of objectivity are considered, as is the relationship between truth and justice, virtue and success. Distinctions are drawn between the nature and value of truth, and between competing theories or explanations of truth. The second set of lectures focus on reasonable methods for discerning truth. Are there generally accepted means for arriving at these disparate notions of truth? How does one\'s intent influence the procedural methods by which truth is attained? What constitutes a rational belief? Can it ever be rational to hold irrational beliefs? What constitutes a valid proof for a proposition? How would this differ from a proper justification or understanding?
This discussion leads into issues of causality and explanation which are dealt with in chapter three. What is it for one event or object to \"cause\" another? Is the relation between cause and effect necessary or contingent? Can an effect precede its cause? Can an effect also be the cause of the event having occurred? What role do probability and predictability play into the causal picture? What bearing do laws and rules have on causation? Issues of culpability, liability, harm and negligence are also discussed as are the perennial questions, \"Why is there something rather than nothing?\" and \"Why this particular state of affairs rather than some other?\"
The next chapter on free will and determinism is divided into three parts. It is interesting to note the different ways that the free will/determinist debate is set up by thinkers from different disciplines based on what each thinks is the important issues involved. Not only do the answers differ, but so do the questions which are asked. Distinctions are drawn between soft determinism and compatibilism, libertarianism and contra-causal freedom. One view of human action defines us as wholly physical systems. Yet, such systems are conditioned in a various ways. The problem of free will on this account consists in asking whether we can be morally responsible for our actions while acknowledging that at least on some physical level of description, our behavior is determined.
Chapter five focuses on the exercise of decision-making at the boundaries of life and death. What criteria determine the proper allocation of decision-making authority among entities with competing interests in and perspectives on an outcome? What are the implications that flow from the choice of a decision-maker?
In the last chapter, the lecturers address various issues of race and gender. The difference between racism and racialism is discussed. This framework is applied to other forms of differential treatment based on ground identification such as age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, immigration policy, and so on. Are we all created equal, or are some \"more equal\" than others? To what degree is human equality a contingent fact of history? This includes a treatment of the use and misuse of the notion of natural selection, and a discussion on the evolution of human sexuality. Specific issues of discrimination are considered, with references to feminism and affirmative action.
This work concludes with a discussion on the role of religion. Does belief in God give meaning to our lives? Does faith consist exclusively or primarily of intellectual assent to certain belief statements about the nature of ultimate reality? Is the Bible merely human literature, or does it differ in being divinely inspired? Traditional arguments for and against the existence of God are critiqued. How does one account for evil and suffering in the world? Why is monotheism seen by some as \"more advanced\" than polytheism? From a practical perspective, does intercessory prayer help? Should the Church be exempt from taxes? Why give special status to conscientious objectors? Each of these issues and others are brought to bear on the discussion.
Alan M. Dershowitz is Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard University and author of The Best Defense, Reversal of Fortune, Taking Liberties, Chutzpah, The Abuse Excuse, Reasonable Doubts and numerous articles. He graduated first in his class at Yale Law School, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Law Journal. After clerking for Judge David Bazelon and Justice Arthur Goldberg, he was appointed to the Harvard Law faculty, where he became a full professor at age twenty-eight, the youngest in the school\'s history. Widely recognized as America\'s leading appellate attorney, his clients have included Claus von Bulow, Anatoly Scharansky, Patty Hearst, John DeLorean, F. Lee Bailey, Senator Mike Gravel, Leona Helmsley, Mike Tyson and O. J. Simpson.
Robert Nozick was Authur Kingsley Porter Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University. His works include Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Philosophical Explanations, The Examined Life and The Nature of Rationality. After studying and teaching at Princeton University, he was a Fulbright Scholar at Oxford University and joined the Philosophy Department at Harvard in 1965, chairing the department from 1981-1984.
Stephen Jay Gould was Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Professor of Geology, and Curator in Invertebrate Paleontology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. Among his many works are Ever Since Darwin, The Panda\'s Thumb, The Mismeasure of Man, Time\'s Arrow/Time\'s Cycle, Wonderful Life, Bully for Brontosaurus and Dinosaur in a Haystack. He graduated from Columbia University, and has since received honorary Doctor of Letters from over thirty colleges and universities. In 1985, his work was the focus of a Nova television special.
About the Author: Darin Jewell has a Masters Degree in Philosophy, and researched his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge, England. He was a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religion at Harvard University when he chronicled this series of inter-disciplinary lectures.
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