The Meaning of Human Existence

The Meaning of Human Existence
Author :
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages : 159
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780871404800
ISBN-13 : 087140480X
Rating : 4/5 (80X Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Meaning of Human Existence by : Edward O. Wilson

Download or read book The Meaning of Human Existence written by Edward O. Wilson and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2014-10-06 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller Finalist for the National Book Award (Nonfiction) How did humanity originate and why does a species like ours exist on this planet? Do we have a special place, even a destiny in the universe? Where are we going, and perhaps, the most difficult question of all, "Why?" In The Meaning of Human Existence, his most philosophical work to date, Pulitzer Prize–winning biologist Edward O. Wilson grapples with these and other existential questions, examining what makes human beings supremely different from all other species. Searching for meaning in what Nietzsche once called "the rainbow colors" around the outer edges of knowledge and imagination, Wilson takes his readers on a journey, in the process bridging science and philosophy to create a twenty-first-century treatise on human existence—from our earliest inception to a provocative look at what the future of mankind portends. Continuing his groundbreaking examination of our "Anthropocene Epoch," which he began with The Social Conquest of Earth, described by the New York Times as "a sweeping account of the human rise to domination of the biosphere," here Wilson posits that we, as a species, now know enough about the universe and ourselves that we can begin to approach questions about our place in the cosmos and the meaning of intelligent life in a systematic, indeed, in a testable way. Once criticized for a purely mechanistic view of human life and an overreliance on genetic predetermination, Wilson presents in The Meaning of Human Existence his most expansive and advanced theories on the sovereignty of human life, recognizing that, even though the human and the spider evolved similarly, the poet's sonnet is wholly different from the spider's web. Whether attempting to explicate "The Riddle of the Human Species," "Free Will," or "Religion"; warning of "The Collapse of Biodiversity"; or even creating a plausible "Portrait of E.T.," Wilson does indeed believe that humanity holds a special position in the known universe. The human epoch that began in biological evolution and passed into pre-, then recorded, history is now more than ever before in our hands. Yet alarmed that we are about to abandon natural selection by redesigning biology and human nature as we wish them, Wilson soberly concludes that advances in science and technology bring us our greatest moral dilemma since God stayed the hand of Abraham.


The Meaning of Human Existence Related Books

The Meaning of Human Existence
Language: en
Pages: 159
Authors: Edward O. Wilson
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2014-10-06 - Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

New York Times Bestseller Finalist for the National Book Award (Nonfiction) How did humanity originate and why does a species like ours exist on this planet? Do
A Significant Life
Language: en
Pages: 210
Authors: Todd May
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2015-04-02 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“A tour de force. It is a thoughtful, subtle, beautifully written discussion of what it takes to live a meaningful life.” —Barry Schwartz, author of The P
Meaning in Life and Why It Matters
Language: en
Pages: 161
Authors: Susan Wolf
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-03-25 - Publisher: Princeton University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A fresh reflection on what makes life meaningful Most people, including philosophers, tend to classify human motives as falling into one of two categories: the
The Meaning of Life
Language: en
Pages: 360
Authors: Nathanael Novosel
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"What is the meaning of life?" Throughout history, people have spent much of their lives trying to explain how the world works and why. Initially, they seek to
The Death of God and the Meaning of Life
Language: en
Pages: 262
Authors: Julian Young
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2014-05-16 - Publisher: Routledge

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What is the meaning of life? In today's secular, post-religious scientific world, this question has become a serious preoccupation. But it also has a long histo