Ai generated. Human edited. Introduction and summary of Memory: A Self-referential Account By Jordi Fernández 2019

Jordi Fernandez here offers a philosophical investigation of memory, one which engages with memory's philosophically puzzling characteristics in order to clarify what memory is. Memories interact with mental states of other types in a particular way, and they also have associated feelings that these other mental states lack. They are special in terms of their representational capacity too, since one can have memories of objective events as well as memories of one's own past experiences. Finally, memories are epistemically unique, in that beliefs formed on the basis of memories are protected from certain errors of misidentification, and are justified in a way which does not rely on any cognitive capacity other than memory.To explain these unique features, Fern ndez proposes that memories have a particular functional role which involves past perceptual experiences and beliefs about the past. He suggests that memories have a particular content as well, namely that they represent themselves as having a certain causal origin. Fern ndez then explains the feelings associated with our memories as the experience of some of the things that our memories represent, things such as our own past experiences, or the fact that memories originate in those experiences. He also accounts for the special justification for belief afforded by our memories in terms of the content that memories have. The resulting picture is a unified account of several philosophically interesting aspects of memory, one that will appeal to philosophers of mind, metaphysicians, and epistemologists alike.

Ai generated. Human edited. "The Invention of Good and Evil: A World History of Morality" By Hanno Sauer 2024

For almost five million years, humans have been locked in a relationship with morality, inventing and reinventing the concepts of 'Good' and 'Evil', and weaving them into our cities, laws and customs.Morality is a concept that can feel joyless and claustrophobic, associated with restraint and coercion, restriction and sacrifice, inquisition, confession and a guilty conscience. For many, it is a device used to shame us into compliance. This impression is not necessarily incorrect, but it is most certainly incomplete.Hanno Sauer traces humanity's fundamental moral transformations from our earliest ancestors through to the present day, when it can often seem that we have never disagreed more over what it means to be good, and what it means to be right. But we can use our past as a basis for a new understanding of our future. Our current political disagreements may feel like the end of the world, but where will the evolution of morality take us next?

Ai generated. Human edited. "Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life" By Agnes Callard 2025

Socrates has been hiding in plain sight. We call him the father of Western philosophy, but what exactly are his philosophical views? He is famous for his humility, but readers often find him arrogant and condescending. We parrot his claim that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” yet take no steps to live examined ones. We know that he was tried, convicted, and executed for “corrupting the youth,” but freely assign Socratic dialogues to today’s youths, to introduce them to philosophy. We’ve lost sight of what made him so dangerous. In Open Socrates, acclaimed philosopher Agnes Callard recovers the radical move at the center of Socrates’ thought, and shows why it is still the way to a good life.Callard draws our attention to Socrates’ startling discovery that we don’t know how to ask ourselves the most important questions―about how we should live, and how we might change. Before a person even has a chance to reflect, their bodily desires or the forces of social conformity have already answered on their behalf. To ask the most important questions, we need help. Callard argues that the true ambition of the famous “Socratic method” is to reveal what one human being can be to another. You can use another person in many ways―for survival, for pleasure, for comfort―but you are engaging them to the fullest when you call on them to help answer your questions and challenge your answers.Callard shows that Socrates’ method allows us to make progress in thinking about how to manage romantic love, how to confront one’s own death, and how to approach politics. In the process, she gives us nothing less than a new ethics to live by.