Sapolsky's book argues for hard determinism, i.e., that "we are nothing more or less than the sum of that which we could not control--our biology, our environments, their interactions." My above-referenced review shows, inter alia, that Sapolsky's book does not prove his thesis and that there are scientific and philosophical grounds for some kind of free will....more
I am the author of this book and accordingly am not rating it. Reason and Human Ethics is the second book of my planned philosophical trilogy on free I am the author of this book and accordingly am not rating it. Reason and Human Ethics is the second book of my planned philosophical trilogy on free will, ethics, and political philosophy. The first in this series, Free Will and Human Life, was published in 2021. The third, titled Reason and Human Government, will be completed and published sometime within the next few years.
Reason and Human Ethics is available in both paperback and Kindle ebook editions. An exact replica of the print-on-demand paperback (updated through February 24, 2024) is also freely accessible in PDF at https://www.academia.edu/107899091/Re.... I encourage readers to download the PDF and compare it to any positive or negative reviews they may find on this or other websites.
This book is written primarily for what I call the advanced general reader. Those who already believe they have a sufficient ethical orientation from religion or from cultural indoctrination need not read it—unless, of course, they still have open minds. Those trained in conventional academic approaches to ethics may find the book difficult to grasp, as it does not neatly fit into preconceived modern academic pigeonholes. But my approach is, in fact, generally consistent with some–not all—contemporary scholarship, as evidenced by my citation of a few great scholars of the last many decades.
Trigger warning: advocates of theocracy or other forms of authoritarianism will not like this book.
This work argues, contrary to much of modern philosophy and contemporary popular belief, that human reasoning about both ends and means is essential for human ethics and is, in fact, a moral imperative. This thesis is developed in chapters 1 (“What Is the Basis of Human Ethics?”) and 2 (“Human Reason”) and is applied, with numerous examples, in chapters 3 (“Individual Ethics”), 4 (“Social Ethics”), 5 (“Citizen and Media Ethics”), and 6 (“Political Ethics”). I thought about, researched, and planned this book for more than six decades. Such theoretical knowledge plus my decades of practical life experience informed its careful design.
Alan E. Johnson Independent Philosopher, Historian, Political Scientist, and Legal Scholar...more
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