The Problem Of The Soul - 1086 Words

Flanagan, a naturalist, asserts in his book The Problem of the Soul that he is an atheist on the concept of the soul and he is a quietist when it comes to the concept of god. What he means by this, is that he does not believe in the existence of the soul, for several reasons, and believes that we shouldn’t be discussing the concept of god in general because while he admits that it is logically plausible, there is no way that we can ever know if god exists or not for absolute certain. Flanagan states that what he means by the title of his book is, â€Å"†¦ a shorthand was of referring to a cluster of philosophical concepts that are central components of the dominant humanistic image† and that these ‘problems’ of the soul primarily include, â€Å"... a nonphysical mind, free will, and a permanent, abiding, and immutable self or soul.† The central theme of the book is the obsoleteness of the humanistic image as well as its utter incompatibility wit h the logical, empirically supported scientific image. Flanagan argues that the humanistic and scientific images are in no way compatible, and that we should all throw out the humanistic image and instead adopt the scientific image. One of the fundamental bases of the humanistic image, is that we humans are not completely animal. The humanistic image asserts that since we were made in god’s image, we are somehow above the rest of the animal kingdom and consequently possess the magical powers that constitute Flanagan’s Problem of the Soul.Show MoreRelatedPlatos Soul and the Homunculus Problem1745 Words   |  7 PagesPlato’s Theory of Soul and The Homunculus Problem Rebecca Vinci Plato’s theory of the soul and the Homunculus theory of human cognition are two distinct theories that both allude to the concept of a mind having smaller parts within it that are assigned to certain tasks and each responsible for the function of a certain cognitive capacity which, together, explain some aspect of the functioning of the whole Both theories use this cognitivist concept as an attempt to explain the complexity of the humanRead MoreThe Oldest, Wicked Problem : Reflections Of An Old Soul Essay2247 Words   |  9 PagesWicked Problem: Reflections of an Old Soul Growing up, I never quite fit in with my peer group. 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