1st Edition
Utopias, Dolphins and Computers Problems in Philosophical Plumbing
By Mary Midgley
Copyright 1996
192 Pages
by
Routledge
192 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Why do the big philosophical questions so often strike us as far-fetched and little to with everyday life? Mary Midgley shows that it need not be that way; she shows that there is a need for philosophy in the real world. Her popularity as one of our foremost philosophers is based on a no-nonsense, down-to-earth approach to fundamental human problems, philosphical or otherwise. In Utopias,... Read more
1. Philosophical Plumbing 2. Practical Utopianism 3. Homunculus Trouble 4. Myths of Intellectual Isolation 5. The Use and Uselessness of Learning 6. Sex and Personal Identity 7. Freedom, Feminism and War 8. The End of Anthropocentrism? 9. Is a Dolphin a Person? 10. Sustainability and Moral Pluralism 11. Visions, Secular, Sacred and Scientific 12. Artificial Intelligence and Creativity
Biography
Mary Midgley is a moral philosopher. Until her retirement in 1980 she was Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Newcastle.
'A clear and sustained assault on the anti-intellectualism that proclaims: "It may be right in theory, but not in practice." Midgley scotches this: if an idea does not work in practice, something is wrong with the theory.' - New Scientist
'Here is a philosophy book which is a pleasure to read from the point of view both of the argument, which is forceful, coherent and lucid, and of the style.' - Journal of Consciousness Studies
'In a climate of loony scientism, Mary Midgley's Utopias, Dolphins and Computers is a powerful antidote - a mix of wisdom and humour.' - The Sunday Times
