Cogprints

Point of view: A modern nihilism

Krellenstein, Dr. Marc (2006) Point of view: A modern nihilism. [Preprint]

Full text available as:

[img]HTML
43Kb

Abstract

Presents the author’s view of the best current positions on certain core philosophical and psychological problems. These positions together suggest a traditional nihilist perspective modified by evolutionary psychology and other contemporary thinking that accepts limitations on our understanding (rather than the conclusive non-existence of certain explanations), the psychological (if not absolute) reality of values, free will and other phenomena and our desire to live as best we can. The positions presented are: (1) the origin of the universe cannot be understood, (2) morality has no absolute rational foundation, (3) some people have unquestioned beliefs they view as absolute, (4) we don’t really have free will but can act as if we do, (5) brains are conscious but we don’t know how, (6) we live by relative values, biological dispositions, upbringing, habit and choice and (7) we don’t know how much we can modify ourselves, what makes us happy or what we value.

Item Type:Preprint
Keywords:ethics, metaphysics, evolutionary psychology, nihilism, philosophy of mind, pragmatism
Subjects:Psychology > Evolutionary Psychology
Philosophy > Ethics
Philosophy > Metaphysics
ID Code:4815
Deposited By:Krellenstein, Dr. Marc
Deposited On:01 Apr 2006
Last Modified:12 Sep 2007 18:02

References in Article

Select the SEEK icon to attempt to find the referenced article. If it does not appear to be in cogprints you will be forwarded to the paracite service. Poorly formated references will probably not work.

Caputo, J. (2000), ‘The end of ethics’, in The Blackwell guide to ethical theory, ed. H. LaFollette (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing).

Haidt, J. (2001), ‘The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment’, Psychological Review, 108 (4), pp. 814-834.

Kramer, P. (1993), Listening to Prozac (New York: Penguin Books).

Krellenstein, M. (1995), ‘Unsolvable problems, visual imagery and explanatory satisfaction’, Journal of Mind and Behavior, 16 (3), pp. 235-254.

McGinn, C. (1989), ‘Can we solve the mind-body problem?’, Mind, 98 (391), pp.349-366.

Miller, A. (2003). An introduction to contemporary metaethics (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press).

Nozick, R. (1974), Anarchy, State, and Utopia (New York: Basic Books).

Nozick, R. (1981), Philosophical explanations (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

Nozick, R. (2001), Invariances: The structure of the objective world (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press).

Pinker, S. (1997). How the mind works (New York: W.W. Norton and Company).

Singer, P. (1993). Practical ethics (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press).

Wittgenstein, L. (1961). Tractatus logico-philosophicus [D.F. Pears and B.F. McGuinness, Trans., original work published 1921] (New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul).

Metadata

Repository Staff Only: item control page