The problem of the soul : two visions of mind and how to reconcile them /

Does the scientific worldview imply that human life is devoid of meaning and purpose? According to this view, human beings can be explained by the same concepts and theories used for the rest of the natural world. The mind is thus conceived to be the brain, a physical object subject to deterministic laws of nature. This scientific image conflicts with a more humanistic image that views humans as possessing immaterial (and perhaps immortal) souls, free will, and permanent selves--all of which are held to be necessary for meaning and morality. Flanagan (Duke Univ.) attempts to reconcile this conflict by showing that the scientific worldview can be accepted without giving up the belief that humans are responsible moral agents who can have meaningful lives. His basic strategy is to argue that the scientific worldview can accommodate some of the features of the humanistic image, e.g., personal responsibility, ethics, and meaning. And the features it can't accommodate--immaterial souls and the libertarian conception of free will, for example--are mere fictions anyway, which people are better off without. This is a very good book on an important topic. General readers, and undergraduates through faculty. D. Haugen Western Illinois University