What Science Offers the Humanities
Subtitle: Integrating Body and Culture
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: February 29, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 384
ISBN-13: 9780521701518
Subjects: Cultural studies; Humanities; Philosophy of science; Science; Science/Mathematics; Philosophy & Social Aspects; Religion / General; General; Humanity; Philosophy; Science and the humanities
Description: "What Science Offers the Humanities examines some of the deep problems facing current approaches to the study of culture. It focuses especially on the excesses of postmodernism but also acknowledges serious problems with postmodernism's harshest critics. In short, Edward Slingerland argues that, in order for the humanities to progress, its scholars need to take seriously contributions from the natural sciences - in particular research on human cognition - which demonstrate that any separation of the mind and body is entirely untenable. The author provides suggestions for how humanists might begin to utilize these scientific discoveries without conceding that science has the last word on morality, religion, art, and literature.

Calling into question such deeply entrenched dogmas as the "blank slate" theory of nature, strong social constructivism, and the ideal of disembodied reason, What Science Offers the Humanities replaces the humanities-sciences divide with a more integrated approach to the study of culture."--Jacket.