Keith Ward 
More than Matter? 
What Humans Really Are

The question of what it is to be a human person is the biggest intellectual question of our day.’ Keith Ward has taught philosophy and theology in British universities for the past 40 years, and he is now weighing in on a major intellectual battle: whether human persons are purely materialistic – nothing but matter – or whether there is another, deeply valuable part of us, which transcends our bodies in nature and moral worth: the soul. For centuries philosophers have debated the question, but the battle has taken the limelight through the works of the New Atheists. In this book Professor Ward guides the reader through a panoply of thinkers and traditions, arguing that there is more to humanity than bodies. In fact, he argues, there is more to the entire universe than the naked eye perceives. (And contrary to the New Atheist assertions, there are good philosophical arguments to back this up!)

Innehållsförteckning

Contents
Introduction 7
Chapter 1 Dualism, minds, and bodies: the problem stated 9
Chapter 2 A range of philosophical views about what is really real 21
Chapter 3 The limits of knowledge 38
Chapter 4 Putting minds first 52
Chapter 5 Questions of personal identity 64
Chapter 6 The place of human minds in the cosmos 81
Chapter 7 Dual-aspect idealism 92
Chapter 8 Metaphysics and common-sense philosophy 104
Chapter 9 In defence of dualism 112
Chapter 10 Consciousness, value, and purpose 126
Chapter 11 Thoughts and perceptions 137
Chapter 12 Minds and moral values 155
Chapter 13 Acting for the sake of good alone 168
Chapter 14 The idealist view of life 182
Chapter 15 Can we still speak of the soul? 197
Notes 213
Short bibliography 214
Glossary 217
Index of subjects 221
Index of names 224

Om författaren

Keith Ward is a fellow of the British Academy and Professional Research Fellow at Heythrop College, London. He was formerly Professor of Religion at King’s College, London, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, and a member of the Council of the Royal Institute of Philosophy. He is also a well-known broadcaster and author of over twenty books, including More than Matter? and Is Religion Irrational?