A History of Western Philosophy Book 6

Series Overview

A history of Western philosophy is a progressive story of the best answers to the most interesting and important questions we have asked in our attempts to understand the world and our experience in it from the beginning of our time on Earth. Examples of such questions are:

• What can we know, and how can we come to know it?
• What is the fundamental nature of our world and ourselves?
• How can we best live and organise our individual and collective lives most satisfyingly and happily?

From early childhood to very old age we all ask philosophical questions because we feel the need to understand our human situation and condition.

This history is divided into 11 major Parts presented in 7 separate Books, covering the main developments in science and philosophy over the past 2,500 years. During this time, some radically different schools of thought have emerged, all integrally related to the history of the times, societies and cultures from which they arose.

Book 6: Modern Science, Psychology, the Philosophy of Mind, and Contemporary Religion

Modern Science: The illustrative example of modern science I take is Physics. I focus on Albert Einstein's the theories of relativity and Quantum Mechanics. After outlining these counter-intuitive theories, I analyse the philosophical critiques of science presented by two major philosophers of science, Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn.

Psychology and the Philosophy of Mind: A very brief outline of the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Stanislav Grof is followed by more detailed outlines of the work of the major scientists and philosophers who have examined the complex problems of human consciousness and offered theories to explain how inert matter evolved into thinking minds over many centuries. A distinction is drawn between the physical brain and the mind. The mind is understood as the system the brain has developed to generate thinking.

Finally, I briefly examine some philosophies of religious experience in the context of modern science.