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What is the best “moral” decision that you can make in any given situation? Many aspects of your physical being work in unison to be able to use your cognitive processes to even come to a conscious decision. There have been many instances, especially recently, where scientific research is being conducted wherein people think about not just morality and what it means to them but also what is occurring inside the various regions of the brain.
Sam Harris, the author of this book, tries to argue that we as humans should try to use science in a way to help us come to better moral decisions that increase the well-being of all humans. Like the studies I was referring to, Mr. Harris wants those scientific studies to be used in such a way as to try to help us make better, quicker, more efficient, and most importantly, the most beneficial decisions to improve or maintain our well-being. Although I do not agree will all the arguments that Mr. Harris presents, I do believe that reading this book is a worthwhile endeavor.
Mr. Harris argues that there are objective moral values that can be and possibly are established into society through science. A relativist, he begins to break down the moral decisions and the bodily functions that occur, for conscious creatures from the molecular level, and introduces the reader to the general research that is being conducted in various cognitive areas.
He makes no qualms as to how he is opposed to religious thought, and if you are offended, I suggest you move ahead from this section. He presents several instances where brain scans and diagrams show what parts of the brain are being used when someone is having a religious experience or felt the presence of their religious deity.
He also presents an extensive section to the studies that have been done on people with diagnosed schizophrenia. The studies that are discussed brought new information to me on how cognitive diseases and patients of those diseases are studied and treated in hospitals and extended stay medical areas.
The best argument that Mr. Harris does present has to do with the medical use of science to help out the human species. He wants to use medical research to the point where we can cure certain diseases, slow the aging process, stop certain syndromes, and just help out all the humans that need medical attention, and in this regard I would have to agree with using science in this fashion.
Not everything about this book is for everyone. When reading this, you need to have an open-mind and just listen to what Mr. Harris is saying. Although you may not agree with all of the arguments, the information presented and the new ways to think about morality and moral decision making do provide an interesting context that should expand your noggin. Mr. Harris does get to the real core concept of morality; making decisions using your own cognitive processes to improve the well-being of yourself and others around you.
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Previews available in: English
Showing 7 featured editions. View all 7 editions?
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1
Il paesaggio morale: Come la scienza determina i valori umani
2012, Einaudi
Paperback
in Italian
8806210726 9788806210724
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2
Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
2012, Transworld Publishers Limited
in English
0552776386 9780552776387
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3 |
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4
Moral landscape: how science can determine human values
2011, Free Press
in English
- 1st Free Press paperback ed.
143917122X 9781439171226
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5
The moral landscape: how science can determine human values
2010, Bantam
in English
0593064879 9780593064870
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6
The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
October 5, 2010, Free Press
1451612788 9781451612783
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7
The moral landscape: how science can determine human values
2010, Free Press
in English
- 1st Free Press hardcover ed.
1439171211 9781439171219
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- Created August 2, 2020
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February 11, 2022 | Edited by dcapillae | Merge works |
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August 2, 2020 | Created by ImportBot | Imported from Better World Books record |