Mind and Cosmos : Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False

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.--publisher Description. Introduction -- Antireductionism And The Natural Order -- Consciousness -- Cognition -- Value -- Conclusion. Thomas Nagel. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "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."--Résumé de l'éditeur 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. In Mind and Cosmos Thomas Nagel argues that the widely accepted world view of materialist naturalism is untenable. The mind-body problem cannot be confined to the relation between animal minds and animal bodies. If materialism cannot accommodate consciousness and other mind-related aspects of reality, then we must abandon a purely materialist understanding of nature in general, 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. An adequate conception of nature would have to explain the appearance in the universe of materially irreducible conscious minds, as such. No such explanation is available, and the physical sciences, including molecular biology, cannot be expected to provide one. The book explores these problems through a general treatment of the obstacles to reductionism, with more specific application to the phenomena of consciousness, cognition, and value. The conclusion is that physics cannot be the theory of everything.