Ideal for scientifically minded individuals curious about life's spiritual side as well as spiritually inclined people seeking to back up their beliefs, this book offers evidence for the existence of telepathy, precognition, and psychic healing.

""Materialism: The Pursuit of Possessions and Its Impact on Human Well-being"" offers a comprehensive exploration of materialism's influence on our lives and society. This thought-provoking book examines the historical roots of materialistic thinking, from ancient Greek philosophy to modern consumer culture, and investigates its psychological effects on individuals and broader societal implications. The book argues that while material possessions can provide temporary satisfaction, an excessive focus on acquiring goods often leads to decreased well-being, strained relationships, and environmental degradation. It presents compelling research from various fields, including psychology, sociology, and environmental science, to support this thesis. For instance, longitudinal studies reveal the long-term effects of materialistic values on happiness and life satisfaction. Structured in three parts, the book progresses from defining materialism to exploring its psychological impact and, finally, examining its societal consequences. What sets this work apart is its interdisciplinary approach, combining philosophical inquiry with empirical research and practical applications. It not only critiques materialism but also offers constructive alternatives and strategies for personal and societal change, making it a valuable resource for anyone seeking to understand and navigate the challenges of living in a materialistic world.

Twenty-three philosophers examine the doctrine of materialism find it wanting. The case against materialism comprises arguments from conscious experience, from the unity and identity of the person, from intentionality, mental causation, and knowledge. The contributors include leaders in the fields of philosophy of mind, metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology, who respond ably to the most recent versions and defences of materialism. The modal arguments of Kripke and Chalmers, Jackson’s knowledge argument, Kim’s exclusion problem, and Burge’s anti-individualism all play a part in the building of a powerful cumulative case against the materialist research program. Several papers address the implications of contemporary brain and cognitive research (the psychophysics of color perception, blindsight, and the effects of commissurotomies), adding a posteriori arguments to the classical a priori critique of reductionism. All of the current versions of materialism — reductive and non-reductive, functionalist, eliminativist, and new wave materialism — come under sustained and trenchant attack. In addition, a wide variety of alternatives to the materialist conception of the person receive new and illuminating attention, including anti-materialist versions of naturalism, property dualism, Aristotelian and Thomistic hylomorphism, and non-Cartesian accounts of substance dualism.

This collection, which includes an international roster of contributors from philosophy, history, literature, and science, is the first to ask what is "new" about the new materialism and place it in interdisciplinary perspective.

Materialism - the view that facts are dependent upon or reducible to physical processes - is one of the most long-standing and controversial of all philosophical theories. Originating in antiquity, its proponents include Epicurus, Hobbes, Diderot, Darwin and Marx, whilst its impact on modern physics and consciousness debates reverberates strongly today. It is also an important yet generally overlooked feature of Indian, Chinese and Islamic thought. This major collection, the first of its kind, explores the fascinating philosophical history of materialism, from the ancient world to the twenty-first century. Comprising thirty-one chapters by an international team of contributors, the volume is divided into six clear parts: Ancient, Non-Western and Medieval Philosophy Renaissance and Early Modern Philosophy Enlightenment Materialisms Nineteenth-Century Philosophy Twentieth-Century Philosophy Contemporary Philosophy: Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics and Critique. Within these sections key topics are covered, including materialism in classical Greece, India and China, and Aztec metaphysics; Renaissance materialism and anti-materialism; materialism and Islamic philosophy; materialism in the French and German Enlightenment; atheism and materialism; nineteenth-century materialist controversies and debates in physics; Marxism and materialism; physicalism; and the new materialism. The History and Philosophy of Materialism is ideal for those studying and researching the history of this vital philosophical movement, especially those with an interest in the history and philosophy of science, ancient and early modern philosophy and the Enlightenment. It will also be valuable reading for those in related disciplines such as history, sociology and religion.

New historicism and cultural materialism emerged in the early 1980s as prominent literary theories and came to represent a revival of interest in history and in historicising literature. Their proponents rejected both formalist criticism and earlier attempts to read literature in its historical context and defined new ways of thinking about literature in relation to history. This study explains the development of these theories and demonstrates both their uses and weaknesses as critical practices. The potential future direction for the theories is explored and the controversial debates about their validity in literary studies are discussed.

Evald Ilyenkov is a unique figure among the many interesting (and many dull) Soviet thinkers that have recently been introduced to English-speaking readers. Although a thoroughly academic philosopher (both in the choice of his subject matter and in his institutional locations), Ilyenkov’s ideas are presented in a manner that one does not often find among academics. Texts selected for this collection are not the only texts dedicated to Hegel and dialectics but they are representative of Ilyenkov’s main themes and interests. It is hoped that this collection will continue to draw interest to the Soviet engagement with Hegel and dialectics.