Altruistic behavior : : an inquiry into motivation / / Paul S. Penner.

• Superior document: Value inquiry book series
• VerfasserIn: Penner, Paul S.
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam ;, Atlanta, Georgia : : Rodopi,, [1995]; ©1995
• Year of Publication: 1995
• Language: English
• Series: Value inquiry book series.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (165 pages)

This book is an inquiry into the motivation for altruistic behavior. It uncovers the condition that prompts or sometimes even compels us to act intentionally for the benefit of others. This condition, the pre-reflective experience of another person as a self-conscious individual just like oneself, f...

Table of Contents

• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• ONE
• Introduction
• 1 The Problem
• 2 Definitions and Presuppositions
• 3 Multidisciplinary Approach
• 4 Commonsense Insight into the Problem
• 5 The Argument
• TWO Extant Explanations for Altruistic Behavior
• 1 Classification of Existing Explanations
• 2 A Biological Approach to Altruism
• 3 A Psychological Approach to Altruism
• 4 A Philosophical Approach to Altruism
• 5 Summary of Traditional Approaches
• THREE The Structure of the Mind
• 1 Implication of Realism for the Philosophy of Mind
• 2 Scientific Evidence for Consciousness as an Emergent Property of the Central Nervous System
• 3 Scientific Evidence for Presentation
• 4 Scientific Evidence for Intentionality
• 5 Phenomenological Analysis of the Constitution of Meanings
• 6 Phenomenological Analysis of the Constitution of the Self
• 7 Objections to the Argument for the Existence of the Self
• 8 The Function of Consciousness and Its Relation to Downward Causation in an Emergentist View of Mind
• FOUR Mental States
• 1 Familiar Mental States
• 2 Mystical States
• FIVE Love
• 1 An Analysis of Love
• 2 Support for the Thesis in the Literature
• 3 Objections to the Thesis
• SIX
• Altruistic Acts
• 1 The Motivation for Acts of Altruism
• 2 Evidence in Support of the Thesis
• Notes
• Bibliography
• About the Author
• Index.