for love of enhancing humanity

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I posted a note on philosophy of higher education, as I'm quite committed to that context of practicality, as I begin a new era of conceptual adventuring that doesn't pretend to seem practical (but is so).

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“How does a naturalist make sense of the meaning, magic, and mystery of life?,” asks Owen Flanagan (Professor of Philosophy, Duke U.), in preface to The Really Hard Problem: meaning in a material world, 2007. “How does one say truthful and enchanting things about being human? It is not clear. [In the following book,] I make an attempt to explain how we can make sense and meaning of our lives given that we are material beings living in a material world. The picture I propose is naturalistic and enchanting. Or so I hope....We can adopt different legitimate attitudes toward the truth about our nature and our predicament. I recommend optimistic realism. Joyful optimistic realism. Life can be precious and funny. And one doesn't need to embrace fantastical stories—unbecoming to historically mature beings—about our nature and prospects to make it so.” [pp. xii-xiii]

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