scholarly journals nature of human nature

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
André C Pieterse

This article will argue from a Scriptural viewpoint that human nature is not reducible to a set of individual physical characteristics but is embodied and all the qualities of being human are mutually dependent. The substance for this statement is rooted in the biblical confession about the characteristics of the resurrected Body of Christ. This premise could assist the sciences in their quest to define human nature, specifically relating to the mind/brain problem. In addition, it could contribute to the need for consilience and lead scientific research into a more comprehensive understanding of the human mind and brain and its embedded nature.

2018 ◽  
pp. 277-280
Author(s):  
Erika Lorraine Milam

This concluding chapter reflects on the lessons presented by this volume as a whole and considers the ongoing study into the origins of humanity in the post-1970s era. In the decades after, readers have not lost their passion for epic evolutionary dramas in which the entirety of human history unfolds before their eyes. Yet when students today respond to the question “What makes us human?” they are far more likely to invoke neurological facts than paleontological ones. The public battlefield over violence and cooperation has since shifted to new ground in the mind and brain sciences. Despite the apparent polarization of scientists writing about human nature into culture- and biology-oriented positions, the intellectual landscape defined by scientists working on the interaction between culture and biology has continued to flourish.


2004 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
MALCOLM JEEVES

Rapid developments in neuroscience over the past four decades continue to receive wide media attention. Each new reported advance points to ever tightening links between mind and brain. For many centuries, what is today called ‘mind-talk’ was familiar as ‘soul-talk’. Since, for some, the possession of a soul is what makes us human, the challenges of cognitive neuroscience directly address this. This paper affords the non-specialist a brief overview of some of the scientific evidence pointing to the ever tightening of the mind-brain links and explores its wider implications for our understanding of human nature. In particular it brings together the findings from so-called bottom-up research, in which we observe changes in behaviour and cognition resulting from experimental interventions in neural processes, with top-down research where we track changes in neural substrates accompanying habitual modes of cognition or behaviour. Further reflection alerts one to how the dualist views widely held by New Agers, some humanists and many religious people, contrast with the views of academic philosophers, theologians and biblical scholars, who agree in emphasizing the unity of the person.


Author(s):  
Pablo Henrique Santos Figueiredo

David Hume, em seus livros Tratado da Natureza Humana e Investigação Acerca do Entendimento Humano, propõe a divisão da mente humana em percepções fortes e vivas, as quais recebem o nome de impressões, e suas cópias, que, por sua vez, recebem o nome de ideias. Estas percepções da mente também se dividem em duas: memória e imaginação. A primeira, com maiores graus de força e vivacidade, e a segunda com menores graus de força e vivacidade. As percepções da mente se relacionam a partir das relações filosóficas, que são princípios de associação e dissociação de ideias. A relação da imaginação com as ciências empíricas é o principal aspecto deste trabalho, de modo que, no decorrer do texto, os aspectos que fomentam esta relação serão trabalhados, ilustrando a importância que tem a imaginação no advento das ciências experimentais. Abstract: David Hume, in his books A Treatise Of Human Nature and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, proposes the division of human mind in in strong, lively perceptions, which are called impressions, and their copies, which, in turn, receive the name of ideas. These perceptions of the mind are also divided into two: memory and imagination. The first, with higher degrees of force and vivacity, and the second with lower degrees of force and vivacity.  The perceptions of the mind are related from the philosophical relations, which are the principles of association and dissociation of ideas. The ratio of the imagination with the empirical sciences is the main aspect of this work, so that, throughout the text, aspects that foster this relationship will be worked out, illustrating the importance of the imagination in the advent of experimental sciences.


2010 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
FELIX BUDELMANN ◽  
PAT EASTERLING

A notable intellectual development of the past decade or two has been the ever-growing interest in human consciousness and the workings of the mind. Sometimes grouped under the umbrella term ‘cognitive sciences’, diverse disciplines such as neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, computer science, and linguistics have all made major contributions to our understanding of the human mind and brain; and the large number of popular science books published in this area show that this can be an engrossing topic for the layperson as much as for experts. In this article we want to explore, at a rather general and non-technical level, how this focus on matters of cognition can help us think about an aspect of Greek tragedy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nerijus Stasiulis

In this article I present the outline of Filosofija. Sociogija 30(3) the articles of which I see as mainly centering around the issue of Man as placed and interacting within social, cultural and political contexts. However, the discussion of the social or political is generally nourished by metaphysical or epistemological issues or insights. The human mind deals with the fundamental questions concerning human nature, the existence or the metaphysical structure of the world, the status of cognition in general and science/ technology in particular. The articles merge into a choir signalling the inescapably social and political mode of our consciousness.


Vox Patrum ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 99-117
Author(s):  
Jan Słomka

Origen's reflections on priesthood, as well as his interpretation of the Book of Leviticus, arc based on the assumption that there exists inner priesthood which is inherent in human nature. Such priesthood means human ability to offer spiritual sacrifices to God. Origen points to the human mind as the priest in man. It is the mind that is capable of turning to God. The spiritual priesthood imposes a moral obligation on every human being. Only against this background does Origenes consider priesthood in the Old and the New Testament. The Old Testamental priesthood was established by Moses and involved the ability to make both material! and spiritual offerings. That priesthood was an anticipation of the priesthood Jesus Christ. Jesus is, at the same time, a priest and a sacrifice, thus he fulfills all the promises of the Old Testament in himself.


Author(s):  
Varsha Agrawal

The mind and the mind attached to it are enamored by looking at our geographical environment and the body with a good clean environment leads the human mind towards peace.The focus of various raga-raganis in Indian music is a close relationship with the environment. It is well known that a good thinking, good thoughts, good music etc. all create a good environment.The flow of the river, the flow of air, the noise of trees all create a pleasant musical sound that is supernatural, universal. But in our Samaveda, the pronunciation of Oun, the chanting of mantras, the effect of its sound along with the eloquence, the resonance, the tone of the atmosphere, on the human mind and brain refreshes the mental environment along with the geographical environment and imparts consciousness and consciousness.Therefore, if along with biology, botanical and scientific efforts, all the raga-raginis of Indian music will be used for conservation of the environment, then it will be a perfect and complete tool. In this present age, environmental protection is an important issue and debate on it is to find its remedies and to present them on the path of world welfare. मन और उससे जुड़ा मस्तिष्क जिस प्रकार हमारे भौगोलिक पर्यावरण को देखकर उस पर आसक्त होता है और शरीर को अच्छे स्वच्छ पर्यावरण का साथ मानव मन को सुख शान्ति की ओर ले जाता है। भारतीय संगीत में विभिन्न राग-रागनियों का ध्यान पर्यावरण के साथ घनिष्ठ सम्बन्ध है। ऐसा सर्वविदित है कि एक अच्छा सोच, अच्छे विचार, अच्छा संगीत आदि सभी अच्छे पर्यावरण का निर्माण करते हैं। नदी का बहना, वायु का प्रवाहमान होना, वृक्षों की सांय-सांय सभी एक सुखद संगीत ध्वनि का निर्माण करते हैं जो अलौकिक है, सार्वभौमिक है। परन्तु हमारे सामवेद में ऊँ का उच्चारण, मंत्रों का उच्चारण उद्दात, अनुद्दात, स्वरित के साथ उसकी ध्वनि का वायुमण्डल पर असर मानव मन और मस्तिष्क पर भौगोलिक पर्यावरण के साथ मानसिक पर्यावरण को तरोताजा कर स्फूर्ति और चेतना प्रदान करता है। अतः पर्यावरण के संरक्षण हेतु यदि जैविकी, वानस्पतिकीय व वैज्ञानिक प्रयासों के साथ-साथ भारतीय संगीत की समस्त राग-रागिनियों का भी प्रयोग किया जाएगा तो वह उत्तम और सम्पूर्ण साधन होगा। आज के इस वर्तमान युग में पर्यावरण सरंक्षण महत्वर्पूण मुद्दा है व इस पर बहस होना इसके उपायों को खोजना और उनको प्रतिपादित करना विष्व के कल्याण के पथ पर अग्रसर होना है।


2001 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Schimmel

Objective: To conceptualize the essence of the mind–body or mind–brain problem as one of metaphysics rather than science, and to propose a formulation of the problem in the context of current scientific knowledge and its limitations. Method and results: The background and conceptual parameters of the mind–body problem are delineated, and the limitations of brain research in formulating a solution identified. The problem is reformulated and stated in terms of two propositions. These constitute a ‘double aspect theory’. Conclusions: The problem appears to arise as a consequence of the conceptual limitations of the human mind, and hence remains essentially a metaphysical one. A ‘double aspect theory’ recognizes the essential unity of mind and brain, while remaining consistent with the dualism inherent in human experience.


Author(s):  
Vaclav Cernik ◽  
Jozef Vicenik ◽  
Emil Visnovsky

In this paper we suggest that the contemporary global intellectual crisis of our (Western) civilization consists in the fundamental transformation of the classical (both Ancient and Modern) types of rationality towards the nonclassical one. We give a brief account of those classical types of rationality and focus on the more detailed description of the contemporary process of the formation of the new HTR which we label as nonclassical. We consider it to be one of the historical possibilities that might radically transform the fundamentals of our human world; in fact, this process has already begun. The paper mentions some of the main features of this process, such as formation of a new type of scientific object; new conceptual schemes; new logical and methodological equipment of scientific research; and new understanding of human nature, human mind, human action, and social order.


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