We spend most of our waking lives at work—in occupations often chosen by our unthinking younger selves. And yet we rarely ask ourselves how we got there or what our occupations mean to us.
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work is an exploration of the joys and perils of the modern workplace, beautifully evoking what other people wake up to do each day—and night—to make the frenzied contemporary world function. With a philosophical eye and his signature combination of wit and wisdom, Alain de Botton leads us on a journey around a deliberately eclectic range of occupations, from rocket science to biscuit manufacture, accountancy to art—in search of what make jobs either fulfilling or soul-destroying.
Along the way he tries to answer some of the most urgent questions we can ask about work: Why do we do it? What makes it pleasurable? What is its meaning? And why do we daily exhaust not only ourselves but also the planet? Characteristically lucid, witty and inventive, Alain de Botton’s “song for occupations” is a celebration and exploration of an aspect of life which is all too often ignored and a book that shines a revealing light on the essential meaning of work in our lives.
This volume investigates the neglected topic of mental action, and shows its importance for the metaphysics, epistemology, and phenomenology of mind. Twelve specially written essays address such questions as the following: Which phenomena should we count as mental actions–imagining, remembering, judging, for instance? How should we explain our knowledge of our mental actions, and what light does that throw on self-knowledge in general? What contributions do mental actions make to our consciousness? What is the relationship between the voluntary and the active, in the mental sphere? What are the similarities and differences between mental and physical action, and what can we learn about each from the other?
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction, Matthew Soteriou (Warwick University)
Chapter 2 Mental Action: A Case Study, Al Mele (Florida State University)
Chapter 3 Judging and the Scope of Mental Agency, Fabian Dorsch (University of Fribourg, Switzerland)
Chapter 4 Reason in Action, John Gibbons (Manchester Metropolitan University)
Chapter 5 Reason, Voluntariness and Moral Responsibility, Thomas Pink (King’s College London)
Chapter 6 Freedom and Practical Judgement, David Owens (University of Sheffield)
Chapter 7 Two Kinds of Agency, Pamela Hieronymi (University of California, Los Angeles)
Chapter 8 Trying and Acting, Brian O’Shaughnessy (King’s College London)
Chapter 9 Perceptual Activity and the Will, Thomas Crowther (Heythrop College, University of London)
Chapter 10 Mental Action and Self-Awareness (II): Epistemology, Christopher Peacocke (Columbia University)
Chapter 11 Mental Actions and the No-Content Problem, Lucy O’Brien (University College London)
Chapter 12 Mental Agency, Conscious Thinking and Phenomenal Character, Matthew Soteriou (Warwick University)
Chapter 13 Is There a Sense of Agency for Thought? Joelle Proust (Institut Nicod)
See also: Mental Action section of MindPapers – includes a link to the article by Christopher Peacocke
Get High Now is an illustrated, mind-blowing magic carpet ride of more than 200 ways to alter human perception and consciousness-without drugs or alcohol. Culled from science, physiology, spiritual practices, and the audio visual arts, these “all natural” highs playfully and safely explore the mind-body connection to entertaining and illuminating effect. Accessible and well-researched, each entry introduces concepts such as lucid dreaming, optical and auditory illusions, controlled breathing, meditation, time compression, and physical and mental exercises, explaining the ways in which they affect our minds and bodies and how to do them. Readers follow the author and his “HighLab” testing team through mind-bending and sometimes hilarious investigations, such as how to lull the mind into hallucinatory states with audio loops; why multiple bee stings lead to euphoric states; what cheeses to eat to induce psychedelic lucid dreams; how to control your breathing to create an out-of-body experience; and many more. Including solo, tandem, and group highs, Get High Now features hundreds of ways to calm or stimulate the senses and open new windows to experiencing the world.
The practice and science of feeling our movements, sensations, and emotions. Embodied self-awareness is the practice and science of our ability to feel our movements, sensations, and emotions. As infants, before we can speak or conceptualize, we learn to move toward what makes us feel good and away from what makes us feel bad. Our ability to continue to develop and cultivate awareness of such body-based feelings and understanding is essential for learning how to successfully navigate in the physical and social world, as well as for avoiding injury and stress. The book explains the neurological basis of embodied self-awareness, how to enhance self-awareness, and how to regain it after injury or trauma.
See also: Author’s blog, Body Sense, at Psychology Today
