Ep. 32: James Madden, Ph.D.: The Recovery of the Self: Embodied and Embedded Persons

In this episode, I speak with James Madden about his book, "Mind, Matter, and Nature", about philosophy of mind, and what it means to be an embodied and an embedded person. We discuss how the loss of a sense of ourselves as embodied and embedded leads to a loss of contact with the world and ultimately to nihilism. We discuss competing visions of the person—materialism, dualism and Aristotle's and St. Thomas Aquinas' idea of Hylomorphism—a union of form and matter—and what it means for a person to lead a good life. We talk about a number of issues including trans-humanism, the idea of uploading ourselves, neuroscience, Aristotle's four causes, Bob the Chameleon, Heidegger's critique of Technology, and Aristotle's ethics as a response to Sophocles Oedipus cycle. If you are interested in what it means to be a person, you will enjoy this wide ranging episode with James Madden.

Visit https://www.themoralimagination.com/episodes/james-madden-phd for show notes and resources.