In Defence Of Our Humanity

Author : Thomas Fuchs
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192898191
Total Pages : 273 pages
Book Rating : 4.97/5 ( download)

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Download or read book In Defense of the Human Being written by Thomas Fuchs and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the progress of artificial intelligence, the digitalization of the lifeworld, and the reduction of the mind to neuronal processes, the human being increasingly appears to be just a product of data and algorithms. That is, we conceive ourselves in the image of our machines, and conversely, we elevate our machines and our brains to new subjects. At the same time, demands for an enhancement of human nature culminate in transhumanist visions of taking human evolution to a new stage. Against this self-reification of the human being, this book defends a humanism of embodiment: our corporeality, vitality, embodied freedom are the foundations of a self-determined existence, which uses these new technologies only as a means, instead of letting them rule us. In Defence of the Human Being offers an array of interventions directed against a reductionist naturalism or transhumanism in various areas of science and society. As alternative it offers an embodied and enactive account of the human person: we are neither pure minds nor brains, but primarily embodied, living beings in relation with others. Fuchs applied this concept to issues such as artificial intelligence, transhumanism and enhancement, virtual reality, neuroscience, embodied freedom, psychiatry, and finally to the accelerating dynamics of current society which lead to an increasing disembodiment of our everyday conduct of life. Cutting across neuroscience, philosophy, and psychiatry, this important new book applies cutting-edge concepts of embodiment and enactivism to the current scientific, technological and cultural tendencies that will crucially influence our society's development in the 21st century.

Author : Stephen Hill
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 9819723639
Total Pages : 369 pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book In Defence of Our Humanity written by Stephen Hill and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : George P. Fletcher
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198040350
Total Pages : 286 pages
Book Rating : 4.54/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Defending Humanity written by George P. Fletcher and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Defending Humanity, internationally acclaimed legal scholar George P. Fletcher and Jens David Ohlin, a leading expert on international criminal law, tackle one of the most important and controversial questions of our time: When is war justified? When a nation is attacked, few would deny that it has the right to respond with force. But what about preemptive and preventive wars, or crossing another state's border to stop genocide? Was Israel justified in initiating the Six Day War, and was NATO's intervention in Kosovo legal? What about the U.S. invasion of Iraq? In their provocative book, Fletcher and Ohlin offer a groundbreaking theory on the legality of war with clear guidelines for evaluating these interventions. The authors argue that much of the confusion on the subject stems from a persistent misunderstanding of the United Nations Charter. The Charter appears to be very clear on the use of military force: it is only allowed when authorized by the Security Council or in self-defense. Unfortunately, this has led to the problem of justifying force when the Security Council refuses to act or when self-defense is thought not to apply--and to the difficult dilemma of declaring such interventions illegal or ignoring the UN Charter altogether. Fletcher and Ohlin suggest that the answer lies in going back to the domestic criminal law concepts upon which the UN Charter was originally based, in particular, the concept of "legitimate defense," which encompasses not only self-defense but defense of others. Lost in the English-language version of the Charter but a vital part of the French and other non-English versions, the concept of legitimate defense will enable political leaders, courts, and scholars to see the solid basis under international law for states to intervene with force--not just to protect themselves against an imminent attack but also to defend other national groups.

Author : Martha C. Nussbaum
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674735463
Total Pages : 345 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Cultivating Humanity written by Martha C. Nussbaum and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1998-10-01 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can higher education today create a community of critical thinkers and searchers for truth that transcends the boundaries of class, gender, and nation? Martha C. Nussbaum, philosopher and classicist, argues that contemporary curricular reform is already producing such “citizens of the world” in its advocacy of diverse forms of cross-cultural studies. Her vigorous defense of “the new education” is rooted in Seneca’s ideal of the citizen who scrutinizes tradition critically and who respects the ability to reason wherever it is found—in rich or poor, native or foreigner, female or male. Drawing on Socrates and the Stoics, Nussbaum establishes three core values of liberal education: critical self-examination, the ideal of the world citizen, and the development of the narrative imagination. Then, taking us into classrooms and campuses across the nation, including prominent research universities, small independent colleges, and religious institutions, she shows how these values are (and in some instances are not) being embodied in particular courses. She defends such burgeoning subject areas as gender, minority, and gay studies against charges of moral relativism and low standards, and underscores their dynamic and fundamental contribution to critical reasoning and world citizenship. For Nussbaum, liberal education is alive and well on American campuses in the late twentieth century. It is not only viable, promising, and constructive, but it is essential to a democratic society. Taking up the challenge of conservative critics of academe, she argues persuasively that sustained reform in the aim and content of liberal education is the most vital and invigorating force in higher education today.

Author : David Brog
Publisher : ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN 13 : 1459610318
Total Pages : 598 pages
Book Rating : 4.16/5 ( download)

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Download or read book In Defense of Faith written by David Brog and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2011-02 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religious faith is under assault. In books, movies, and on television, secular critics are attacking religion and the religious with ever-increasing intensity. These ''new atheists'' typically repeat a two-part mantra: They claim that only an idiot could believe in God, and that idiots who do so have been responsible for most of the hate and violence that have plagued humanity. Abandon religion, they urge, and the world will finally know peace. Surprisingly few books have emerged to defend faith from this onslaught. Yet when it comes to this second argument - the behavior of religious people in the world - abstract claims can be tested by reference to objective facts. In Defense of Faith examines the historical record and demonstrates that far from encouraging hate and aggression, the Judeo-Christian tradition has been the West, s most effective curb on these dangerous defects of human nature. In Defense of Faith asserts that the belief in the sanctity and equality of all humans at the core of both Judaism and Christianity - what Brog calls the ''Judeo-Christian idea'' - has been our most effective tool in the struggle for humanity. The Judeo-Christian idea, Brog argues, has provided the intellectual foundation for human rights. Even more importantly, he maintains, the Judeo-Christian idea has repeatedly inspired the faithful to devote their lives to, and often risk their lives in, the fulfillment of these high ideals. In Defense of Faith also convincingly demonstrates that when we abandon religion as the critics urge, peace does not break out. Instead, we quickly revert to the most base instincts of our selfish genes. Written by a Jewish author who works closely with the Christian faith community, In Defense of Faith will appeal to secular and religious readers alike. This book will challenge the secular to reconsider the role of religion in Western civilization. It will inspire the religious to embrace a proud legacy of faith in action for the sake of humanity.

Author : Bartolomé de las Casas
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780875805566
Total Pages : 385 pages
Book Rating : 4.66/5 ( download)

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Download or read book In Defense of the Indians written by Bartolomé de las Casas and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains primary source material.

Author : Catherine Bernard
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781443843270
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.7X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Family written by Catherine Bernard and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is a compilation of key papers presented at the global conference titled â oeIn Defence of the Family: Family, Children and Culture, â held in Bangkok in June 2011. The event marked the 25th anniversary of the Service and Research Institute on Family and Children (SERFAC), headquartered in Chennai, India. SERFAC was established by Dr Catherine Bernard, MBBS, MS, and collaborators from diverse backgrounds from India and around the world, committed to ensuring the well-being of families so as to address the contemporary moral, spiritual, institutional and technological crises affecting families, children, communities, nations and global society. An internationally registered non-governmental organization, SERFAC, which enjoys Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC (the Economic and Social Council) of the UN, works towards creating awareness and sensitizing society to the fact that a healthy family life and its allied institution of marriage constitute the most important resource base and natural environment for the well-being of its members, particularly children. Families and children across the world face a multitude of ever-changing challenges in an increasingly internationalized culture due to globalization. It is vital for society to respect the autonomy, integrity, solemnity and sacredness of every unborn child, of every person, individual and family, and for every nation to work towards a meeting at different levels. A dialogue must occur to enrich and celebrate this diversity of family, children and cultures, in order to make the world a more humane and civilized place in which to live. In this way, we can ensure a promising future for humanity. The Service and Research Institute on Family and Children has made a start in this reversal process by identifying and working with the smallest, yet, at the same time, the most potent social unit â " the Family.

Author : Lance Hill
Publisher : Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN 13 : 9780807857021
Total Pages : 406 pages
Book Rating : 4.25/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Deacons for Defense written by Lance Hill and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2006-02-01 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1964 a small group of African American men in Jonesboro, Louisiana, defied the nonviolence policy of the mainstream civil rights movement and formed an armed self-defense organization--the Deacons for Defense and Justice--to protect movement workers fr

Author : George P. Fletcher
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199927057
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.50/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Defending Humanity written by George P. Fletcher and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Defending Humanity, internationally acclaimed legal scholar George P. Fletcher and Jens David Ohlin, a leading expert on international criminal law, tackle one of the most important and controversial questions of our time: When is war justified? When a nation is attacked, few would deny that it has the right to respond with force. But what about preemptive and preventive wars, or crossing another state's border to stop genocide? Was Israel justified in initiating the Six Day War, and was NATO's intervention in Kosovo legal? What about the U.S. invasion of Iraq? In their provocative book, Fletcher and Ohlin offer a groundbreaking theory on the legality of war with clear guidelines for evaluating these interventions. The authors argue that much of the confusion on the subject stems from a persistent misunderstanding of the United Nations Charter. The Charter appears to be very clear on the use of military force: it is only allowed when authorized by the Security Council or in self-defense. Unfortunately, this has led to the problem of justifying force when the Security Council refuses to act or when self-defense is thought not to apply--and to the difficult dilemma of declaring such interventions illegal or ignoring the UN Charter altogether. Fletcher and Ohlin suggest that the answer lies in going back to the domestic criminal law concepts upon which the UN Charter was originally based, in particular, the concept of "legitimate defense," which encompasses not only self-defense but defense of others. Lost in the English-language version of the Charter but a vital part of the French and other non-English versions, the concept of legitimate defense will enable political leaders, courts, and scholars to see the solid basis under international law for states to intervene with force--not just to protect themselves against an imminent attack but also to defend other national groups.

Author : Samuel Scheffler
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019998252X
Total Pages : 221 pages
Book Rating : 4.23/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Death and the Afterlife written by Samuel Scheffler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-09 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suppose you knew that, though you yourself would live your life to its natural end, the earth and all its inhabitants would be destroyed thirty days after your death. To what extent would you remain committed to your current projects and plans? Would scientists still search for a cure for cancer? Would couples still want children? In Death and the Afterlife, philosopher Samuel Scheffler poses this thought experiment in order to show that the continued life of the human race after our deaths--the "afterlife" of the title--matters to us to an astonishing and previously neglected degree. Indeed, Scheffler shows that, in certain important respects, the future existence of people who are as yet unborn matters more to us than our own continued existence and the continued existence of those we love. Without the expectation that humanity has a future, many of the things that now matter to us would cease to do so. By contrast, the prospect of our own deaths does little to undermine our confidence in the value of our activities. Despite the terror we may feel when contemplating our deaths, the prospect of humanity's imminent extinction would pose a far greater threat to our ability to lead lives of wholehearted engagement. Scheffler further demonstrates that, although we are not unreasonable to fear death, personal immortality, like the imminent extinction of humanity, would also undermine our confidence in the values we hold dear. His arresting conclusion is that, in order for us to lead value-laden lives, what is necessary is that we ourselves should die and that others should live. Death and the Afterlife concludes with commentary by four distinguished philosophers--Harry Frankfurt, Niko Kolodny, Seana Shiffrin, and Susan Wolf--who discuss Scheffler's ideas with insight and imagination. Scheffler adds a final reply.