Present Books In Pursuance Of The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
| Original Title: | The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values |
| ISBN: | 1439171211 (ISBN13: 9781439171219) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/the-moral-landscape/ |
Sam Harris
Hardcover | Pages: 291 pages Rating: 3.91 | 19533 Users | 1073 Reviews
Interpretation Toward Books The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
Sam Harris' first book, The End of Faith, ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion. In the aftermath, Harris discovered that most people - from religious fundamentalists to non-believing scientists - agree on one point: science has nothing to say on the subject of human values. Indeed, our failure to address questions of meaning and morality through science has now become the most common justification for religious faith. It is also the primary reason why so many secularists and religious moderates feel obligated to "respect" the hardened superstitions of their more devout neighbors. In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape." Because there are definite facts to be known about where we fall on this landscape, Harris foresees a time when science will no longer limit itself to merely describing what people do in the name of "morality"; in principle, science should be able to tell us what we ought to do to live the best lives possible. Bringing a fresh perspective to age-old questions of right and wrong and good and evil, Harris demonstrates that we already know enough about the human brain and its relationship to events in the world to say that there are right and wrong answers to the most pressing questions of human life. Because such answers exist, moral relativism is simply false - and comes at increasing cost to humanity. And the intrusions of religion into the sphere of human values can be finally repelled: for just as there is no such thing as Christian physics or Muslim algebra, there can be no Christian or Muslim morality. Using his expertise in philosophy and neuroscience, along with his experience on the front lines of our "culture wars," Harris delivers a game-changing book about the future of science and about the real basis of human cooperation.
Identify Out Of Books The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
| Title | : | The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values |
| Author | : | Sam Harris |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 291 pages |
| Published | : | October 5th 2010 by Free Press (first published 2010) |
| Categories | : | Philosophy. Science. Nonfiction. Religion. Psychology. Atheism |
Rating Out Of Books The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
Ratings: 3.91 From 19533 Users | 1073 ReviewsCriticism Out Of Books The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
This is my first Sam Harris book, and I'm glad I finally started reading him. I have been familiar with his public appearances, debates and ideas for some time now, but I had not yet found the books of his that I was interested in. Most of the public work that I was aware of was his fight against religion, along side Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and so on. Even though he is one of the New Scientists, I've always felt something is special about him, because he seems to consistently be the youngestSam Harris starts off his book stating that he has the modest mission to convince the reader that neither divine command theory nor positivistic emotivist theory is a sufficient account of morality. But then he goes somewhat further: His actual mission, as he lays it out, is to show how maximizing human wellbeing--defined as a subjective neurological state of wellbeing--can form the basis for moral reasoning, and that scientific inquiry into neurology and effects of different acts can form the
I thought that this book was a brilliant follow up to End of Faith. I've always thought that End of Faith was somewhat of a misnamed book and that with a slightly different focus could have been truly masterful. What I really appreciated about that book was the nuanced exploration of the nature of belief, belief formation, and the role belief plays in behavior and how all of this relates to and affects our states of consciousness. This book was a continuation of that theme in the moral sphere.
I must first admit, I was skeptical that science could answer questions about morality but I was hopeful that Dr. Harris, with a degree in philosophy and a PhD in neuroscience, might be the one with a sound argument as to how and why science might be the answer.I was hopeful because I agree with him that there is [currently] no such thing as Christian or Muslim [or other religious] morality that the mere endurance of a belief system or custom does not suggest that it is adaptive much less wise,
I find Sam Harris to be the most interesting and least abrasive of the so-called new atheists, a group that is comprised of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and others. But in his earlier The End of Faith he was taken to task by atheists and believers alike for suggesting that what we call Spirituality may exist, although not in the sense of the supernatural, and may actually be measurable by scientific means. Harris takes a similar stance in The Moral Landscape regarding morality. He
Why am I sitting here reviewing another Sam Harris book? People keep telling me that I have to have to have to read them, and they seem to generally be what's called in military jargon "target-rich environments."Harris sets out to hunt two of his bugbears: Moral relativism and fundamentalist forms of religion, the former being equated with the political left and the latter with the right. These seem to be the only moral-political systems that exist in his world beside the one he goes on to
Harris starts out strong. He argues that we can have a science of morality. Just as there is a general definition of bodily health, he argues that science can tell us how to interact with others. Just as we ought to promote our own welfare, we ought to maximize the welfare of others. Of course, this bumps into the argument that science can't tell us how we ought to live. Harris sidesteps that criticism by, in effect, stating that critics can fiddle with that line of thought all they want but
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