Buddhist doctrines about meditation, compassion, and well-being have begun to greatly enrich the scientific study of the human mind -- but we have long needed a careful analysis of the philosophical merits of these ideas. In The Bodhisattva's Brain, Flanagan has delivered it in fine style. This is an unusually wise and useful book. -- Sam Harris, author of the New York Times best sellers, The Moral Landscape, Letter to a Christian Nation, and The End of Faith What has Buddhism to teach us about human flourishing? What has neuroscience to teach us both about human flourishing and about the claims of Buddhism? Owen Flanagan's adventurous and intriguing pursuit of answers to these questions is matched by the impressive ingenuity of his attempts to accommodate those answers to the commitments of scientific naturalism. -- Alasdair MacIntyre, author of After Virtue and Whose Justice? Which Rationality? In this masterpiece of insight and clarity, Flanagan takes us on a profound but still personal journey, as he contrasts philosophies of life held by Westerners and those held by Buddhists. Ever true to the path that logic carves, shrewdly sensitive to the human search for happiness, and with a unique accumulation of knowledge, Flanagan has given us something very new: comparative neurophilosophy. -- Patricia Churchland, Professor of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego
Owen Flanagan is James B. Duke Professor of Philosophy at Duke University. He is the author of Consciousness Reconsidered and The Really Hard Problem- Meaning in a Material World, both published by the MIT Press, and other books.
...if you are interested in current debates at the interface
between religion, science and moral philosophy, there is much in
this book that will engage you.
*Times Higher Education*
Brilliant...Flanagan brings much needed clarity, insight and
sophistication to the debate.
*The Observer*
I can't recommend this book enough. It's thoughtful in the best
sense of the word. It you're a Buddhist (or someone leaning towards
Buddhism) who likes to wrestle with philosophical issues, it will
help you to think things through more clearly. If you are a
Buddhist who is inclined toward Naturalism, it's always nice to
find another ally. Best of all, it's fun to read.
*The Existential Buddhist*
It is true that science has yet to produce good explanations of
consciousness, value and free will. The suggestion brought to the
fore by Flanagan—that Buddhism may be a source of insight in these
areas—is a welcome and tantalizing one.
*Nature*
[T]he most important question may be whether the cultivation of
Buddhist virtues will lead to the sort of happiness that comes with
the sense that...life has meaning and value...Flanagan has many
insightful things to say about this claim.
*The Philosopher's Magazine*
Owen Flanagan writes with warmth, wisdom and wit. The Bodhisattva's
Brain is a milestone of cosmopolitan thought and should be read
widely by philosophers, cognitive scientists, theologians and
anyone concerned with human flourishing and the meaning of
life.
*Times Literary Supplement*
A trailblazing work which opens up new horizons for exciting
comparative work in philosophy and psychology.
*Mind*
Scholars and cognoscenti of Buddhism may find this a somewhat
frustrating book; but all interested in Buddhism may read it and
find discussions of interest and value...Above all, Flanagan has
put on the table the issue of what a naturalized Buddhism is. If
Buddhism is to move into the West significantly, I think it will
have to go this way. The book, then, opens the way for many
important future debates.
*Philosophical Quarterly*
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