| de la Mettrie's Ghost: The Story of Decisions 2005 Edition Contributor(s): Nunn, C. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1403994951 ISBN-13: 9781403994950 Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan OUR PRICE: $24.70 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 2005 Annotation: This book is about how we make choices. It is a compelling analysis of the nature of free will, drawing together evidence from chemistry, literature, politics, history and beyond. Psychiatrist Chris Nunn elegantly explores the revolutions in medicine, genetics, bioethics and neuroscience spurred by Julien de la Mettrie's 300-year-old tract "Man the Machine," Nunn concludes that a mechanistic view of the human brain, though once fruitful, is now moribund. He proposes a powerful alternative: that stories, recorded in our memories throughout life, are the mediators of free choice. Nunn demonstrates how this original approach could reconcile the latest brain-imaging results and our seemingly contradictory intuition about decision making and responsibility. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Science | Philosophy & Social Aspects - Psychology | Neuropsychology - Psychology | History |
| Dewey: 128.2 |
| LCCN: 2005051115 |
| Series: MacMillan Science |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5.6" W x 8.5" (1.05 lbs) 235 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book is about how we make choices. Drawing together evidence from 21st century chemistry to Victorian politics, enlightenment philosophy, Roman drama and beyond, it is a compelling hunt for the nature of free will. |