Name: Life and Mind
SKU: 1-4438-4071-8
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Life and Mind

A Philosophical Quest

By: Jürgen Lawrenz

£54.99

This provocative book argues that life and mind elude purely materialistic explanations. It posits intelligence as a precondition for organic existence, a serious challenge to modern science, and culminates in a philosophical proof of the mind system.

In this bold, provocative account, the author argues that the phenomena of life and mind elude purely materialistic explanations. Living matter occupies a unique phase…

In this bold, provocative account, the author argues that the phenomena of life and mind elude purely materialistic explanations. Living matter occupies a unique phase of existence which results from the complex transformation of its biochemical synergies. Analogous phase changes account for mind and self-reflexive consciousness. A central role in the living state is played by intelligence, which has not been recognised as a non-negotiable precondition of organic existence. Yet the concept of evolutionary adaptivity relies tacitly on it. Thus the book amounts to a serious challenge to the overly theoretical paradigmata of the last half-century with their timorous evasion of biological fundamentals. However, although the work relies on up-to-date research of the life sciences, it is a primarily philosophical enquiry, dealing head on with many unsolved problems of life and mind, and culminating in a detailed “ontological proof” of the mind system.

Jürgen Lawrenz was born and educated in Germany, but lives in Sydney, Australia. He gained his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Sydney, where he also lectured on 17th century philosophy and aesthetics. His books, Leibniz: The Nature of Reality and the Reality of Nature and Art and the Platonic Matrix are also published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Hardback

ISBN: 1-4438-4071-8
ISBN13: 978-1-4438-4071-2
Date of Publication: 2012-07-31

Ebook

ISBN: 1-4438-4397-0
ISBN13: 978-1-4438-4397-3
Date of Publication: 2012-07-31

Categories: Social Sciences, Philosophy, Philosophy, Anthropology, History and Philosophy of Science

Pages: 420

Subject Codes:

BIC: HP, JHM, PDA
BISAC: PHI015000, PHI013000, PHI004000, SCI075000, SCI090000, SCI086000
THEMA: QD, JHM, PDA

Pages: 420

In this compelling and persuasive book, Lawrenz reasons that life originated through a ‘homeodynamic phase change'. The laws of physics are not contravened by living matter; but in attaining this phase an inherent potential for intentionality is actualised, which physics cannot account for. The second part of the book argues that brain contains the ‘potential' for mind, thanks to an analogous phase change. Lawrenz thus evades the trap of Cartesian dualism and exposes most accounts of mind as misguided or vacuous. There's a lot here that I'd happily quote in my own attempts to contribute to the literature!
- – Paul S. Agutter Director, Theoretical Medicine and Biology Group, Glossop, UK; Editor-in-Chief of Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling; Author of About Life and Thinking About Life
I read [the account] with great interest. It is very well written and will be a useful contribution to the discourse on the foundational aspects of consciousness. I agree with many of his statements; [i.e.] where things involve quantum excitations, proto-consciousness may emerge. This is of absolutely critical importance because in quantum physics there is no precedent for the living state in biological matter and all our sophisticated pronouncements of its impossibility based on thermal decoherence, etc. are simply irrelevant.
- – Jack Tuszynski Professor of Physics at the University of Alberta, and the Division of Experimental Oncology, Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, Alberta

Meet The Author

Jürgen Lawrenz

Metaphysics in the Age of Scientific Hegemony

Essays and Models

By: Jürgen Lawrenz

From £37.99

These essays argue for the persisting relevance of metaphysical speculation. Delving into thinkers from Hegel to Wittgenstein, the focus is on the autonomous agency of the human being—a concept at odds with the mechanistic doxa under which modern science is compelled to operate.

The Metamorphoses of Philosophy II

An Account of Cognitive Emergence in Philosophy and Science

By: Jürgen Lawrenz

£61.99

Providing a phenomenology of the Western mind, this second of three volumes maps philosophy’s re-emergence in scholasticism and early modern science, up to its peak in the great metaphysical systems of 19th century German philosophy.

The Metamorphoses of Philosophy III

An Account of Cognitive Emergence in Philosophy and Science

By: Jürgen Lawrenz

£64.99

A 3000-year journey into the Western mind. This book explores how ideas emerge from the interplay of philosophy, culture, and science. In a conversational style, it powerfully challenges scientific reductionism, appealing to historians and all deep thinkers.

The Metamorphoses of Philosophy I

An Account of Cognitive Emergence in Philosophy and Science

By: Jürgen Lawrenz

£64.99

Charting 3000 years of Western thought, this book explores how philosophical ideas emerge from the interplay of culture, cognition, and values. This first volume traces philosophy’s origins to its peak in ancient Greece, with a compelling contrast to classical Chinese thought.

Leibniz

Prophet of New Era Science

By: Jürgen Lawrenz

£44.99

Modern scientists and philosophers confront the prophetic legacy of Leibniz, whose 17th-century metaphysics presaged today’s research into relativity, quantum cosmology, complexity theory, and the computer era, revealing his profound impact on science.

Art and the Platonic Matrix

By: Jürgen Lawrenz

£39.99

For millennia, philosophy has failed to define art. This searching critique reveals why and proposes a new philosophy, demonstrating that art is quintessentially involved in the meaning of life, our impulse for self-knowledge, and understanding the human condition.

Life and Mind

Hardback

Ebook

Subject Codes:

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Meet The Author