philosophy biology

Hardcover. NY, Alfred A. Knopf, 2nd pr., 1971, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, black cloth with silver lettering, 199 pages. This radical book by Nobel laureate Monod is an important intellectual event. Chance and Necessity is a philosophical statement whose intention is to sweep away as both false and dangerous the animist conception of man that has dominated virtually all Western worldviews from primitive cultures to those of dialectical materialists. He bases his argument on the evidence of modern biology, which indisputably shows, that man is the product of chance genetic mutation. With the unrelenting logic of the scientist, he draws upon what we now know (and can theorize) of genetic structure to suggest an new way of looking at ourselves. He argues that objective scientific knowledge, the only reliable knowledge, denies the concepts of destiny or evolutionary purpose that underlie traditional philosophies. He contends that the persistence of those concepts is responsible for the intensifying schizophrenia of a world that accepts, and lives by, the fruits of science while refusing to face its moral implications. Name on inside front cover, otherwise clean. No dust jacket.

Hardcover. NY, Penguin Press, 1st, 2023, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 511 pages. Determined offers a marvelous synthesis of what we know about consciousness--the tight weave between reason and emotion and between stimulus and response in the moment and over a life. One by one, Sapolsky takes out all the major arguments for free will, cutting a path through the thickets of chaos theory and quantum physics. But as Sapolsky acknowledges, it's sometimes impossible to uncouple from our zeal to judge people, including ourselves. Determined applies this new understanding to some of our most essential questions around punishment, morality, and living well together. Most of all, Sapolsky argues that while accepting the reality about free will is monumentally difficult, it will make for a much more humane world. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Berlin/London, Springer International, reprint, 1977, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 597 pages. The relation between body and mind is one of the oldest riddles that has puzzled mankind. That material and mental events may interact is accepted even by the law: our mental capacity to concentrate on the task can be seriously reduced by drugs. Physical and chemical processes may act upon the mind; and when we are writing a difficult letter, our mind acts upon our body and, through a chain of physical events, upon the mind of the recipient of the letter. the authors of this book stress that they cannot solve the body mind problem; but they hope that they have been able to shed new light on it. B&w illustrations, clean copy. This is a heavy and oversized book and will require extra shipping. International customers please ask for a shipping quote before purchasing.

Softcover. Cambridge MA, MIT Press, 1972, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 277 pages. A look at the human sense of time, a biological rhythm that may follow a different beat from that dictated by external, "official," "objective" timepieces. Time and Place-Timeplace-is a continuum of the mind, as fundamental as the spacetime that may be the ultimate reality of the material world.