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| View Larger Image | Neither Gods Nor Beasts
How Science Is Changing Who We Think We Are
by Elof Axel Carlson
| | List Price: | $29.00 |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 1338146 | | Studio: | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press | | | Binding: | Hardcover | | Number Of Pages: | 180 | | Publication Date: | May 01, 2008 | | Publisher: | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Traditional views of human nature focus on the supernatural, defining us as creatures with souls, minds, and spirits that transcend our physical attributes. In this provocative book, distinguished scientist and historian Elof Axel Carlson argues for a different understanding of ourselves based on our biology—cellular organization, genetics, life cycle, evolution, and our origins as a species. This interpretation would not negate our capacity for imagination, spiritual and emotional yearnings, or aesthetic appreciation for art, music, and literature. Carlson challenges educators, the media, and public policy makers to integrate the evidence from science more fully into our understanding of ourselves.
Related Titles from the Publisher
Times of Triumph, Times of Doubt: Science and the Battle for Public Trust [Hardcover]
The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea [Hardcover]
Mendel's Legacy: The Origin of Classical Genetics [Hardcover] |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 1 review)
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A fine explanation of the scientific worldview 
Philosophers in the nineteenth century such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Karl Marx might perhaps be disappointed as to the status of religion in the modern world. Nietzsche, who proclaimed that "god was dead", and Marx, who declared religion as being the "opiate of the people" both foresaw the twentieth century as being one where religion would decline in popularity. For Nietzsche this would take place from an ethical standpoint: god was no longer needed as a foundation for ethics. For Marx, the liberation of the "proletariat" would eliminate the need for religion, due to the resulting economic prosperity. And early in the twentieth century, the psychologist Sigmund Freud viewed religion as "infantile", as a psychological malady that could be adjusted or negated through proper psychoanalytic treatment. Marx and Freud in particular thought scientific advancement would assist in the decline of religious belief.
But religious beliefs have not totally disappeared in the modern world, despite the beliefs of these individuals that it would do so. However if one examines the religious beliefs of the people of the nineteenth century, and those of the twenty-first century, one sees marked differences between the two, particularly in how they reconcile their beliefs with modern science. Some highly reactionary religious groups still completely reject the worldview of modern science, and hold steadfastly to concepts such as everlasting life, the immortal soul, and divine creation. Others though have accepted, perhaps passively, such scientific assertions such as evolution, the role of genetics, and the finiteness of the universe as detailed by astrophysics and cosmology. Still others have taken on scientific theories with enthusiasm, and are attempting to use these theories to "prove" the existence of god and give credence to religious dogma.
Whatever their stance and relation to science, whether it be fideistic, reactionary, or accommodating, it is apparent that the religious worldview, at least the one coming from religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, is rapidly declining and if trends continue will meet its demise in the twenty-first century. In its place will be a naturalistic, materialistic worldview that represents the ongoing discoveries of modern science. This book represents such a worldview, and is highly and refreshingly optimistic in its scope and in its vision of the future. The author does not want to give the reader the impression he is upholding "scientism", and he clearly believes that there are clear demarcations between science and ethics and politics for example. Some readers, such as this reviewer, will dismiss his caution in the rejection of "scientism", believing instead that ethics, morality, and politics can find a natural place in science. Recent research in neuroscience and "neuroethics" give strong evidence for a "scientistic" world view.
In spite of the author's timidity in holding to a totally "scientistic" worldview, the contents of the book are highly interesting and can be approach by any reader curious about the subject matter, since the book is written for a general readership that may not have a strong background in biology or other areas of science. He endeavors throughout the book to make the reader more comfortable with the worldview given by science, modern biology in particular. The author is aware that many may be uncomfortable with the idea of viewing themselves as being assemblages of cells or that the mind is not an entity that is distinct from the brain. Such readers may still not feel totally at ease with these conceptions when finishing the book, but at least they will have been confronted with the information from an author that never comes across as elitist and seems genuinely interested in the well-being of all humanity.
The author is not looking for converts, and it is doubtful that religious dogmatists will experience any epiphanies towards the scientific worldview while reading the book. But the book, along with a voluminous scientific literature that can easily be accessed by anyone, gives credence to the assertion that the religious world view, with its doctrine of the eternal soul, the existence of heaven and hell, and the separateness of body and mind, is being supplanted with one that is compatible with modern science. The rate at which this is happening is still unclear, but there is good reason to believe that the last religious prayers will be uttered in this century.
June 04, 2008 | |
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