The hand : a philosophical inquiry into human being
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The hand : a philosophical inquiry into human being
Edinburgh University Press, c2003
- : hard
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: hard ISBN 9780748617371
Description
What are the origins of human difference? The Hand, which is the first part of a bold philosophical inquiry into the nature of the difference between human beings and other animals, argues that it is the result of a complex sequence of events which began several million years ago with the evolution of the human hand. Possession of a fully developed hand profoundly transformed the relationship of the human being to its own body, thus altering the relationship between humans and the natural world. The interaction of the hand with the rest of the body brought about self-consciousness and laid the foundations for the unique sense of agency that is experienced by humans. Crucially, the hand inspired the tool-use that has come to dominate human life and which has led to the emergence of the complex symbolic systems - most importantly language - that underpin civilisation. The book also celebrates the hand in human life: the almost miraculous complexity of its manipulative, exploratory and communicative functions.Raymond Tallis combines philosophical reflection with a light-hearted look at gestures, the role of each finger, the origins of numbers - and the case for and against what he names 'handkind'.
The Hand is the first of three volumes. The other titles are I Am: A Philosophical Inquiry into First-Person Being and The Knowing Animal: A Philosophical Inquiry into Truth and Knowledge.
Table of Contents
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Overture
- 1 Grasping the Hand
- 1.1 Preliminary Grapplings
- 1.2 The Manipulative Hand
- 1.3 The Knowing Hand
- 1.4 The Communicative Hand
- 1.5 From Prehension to Apprehension
- Part I Brachio-Chiral
- 2 The Armed Hand
- 2.1 Two Fingers to Over-digitisation
- 2.2 The Genius of Reaching
- 2.3 Mechanism and Agency
- 3 The Talking Hand
- 3.1 Introduction: The Sign-making Animal
- 3.2 Gesturing
- 3.3 Clapping and Other Hand Shouting
- 3.4 Handsome
- 4 Hand Talking to Hand
- 4.1 Manucaption
- 4.2 The Dialogue of the Left Hand with the Right
- 4.3 The Interlocutors
- 4.4 The Hand Talking to its Self or the Self
- 5 The Playful Hand
- 5.1 Introduction
- 5.2 The Carnal Hand
- 5.3 Hand Games
- 5.4 Post-script: Handy (like)
- Part II Chiro-Digital
- 6 One-finger Exercises
- 6.1 Introduction
- 6.2 Thumb
- 6.3 Index
- 6.4 Middle
- 6.5 Ring
- 6.6 Little
- 7 Polydactylic Exercises
- 7.1 Introduction: The Ordeal of Precision
- 7.2 Two Fingers
- 7.3 Three Fingers
- 7.4 Four Fingers
- 7.5 Five Fingers
- 7.6 Ten Fingers
- 8 Abstract Digits
- 8.1 Introduction and Disclaimer
- 8.2 The Number Sense: From Magnitudes to Digits
- 8.3 Digits and Digits
- 8.4 Units: From Counting to Measurement
- 8.5 The Unreasonable Power of the Precision of Abstract Digits
- 9The Tool of Tools
- 9.1 Prologue: The Self-shaping Hand
- 9.2 Tool-using, Tool-making and the Tool of Tools
- 9.3 Tools and the Origin of Human Culture
- 9.4 Eolith and SuperCray
- 9.5 Tools and Language
- 9.6 Brain, Tools and Language
- 9.7 Beyond Biology and Biologism
- 9.8 Epilogue: Handicraft
- Appendix: Karl Marx and the Collectivisation of
- Human Consciousness in Tools
- Part III Towards Chiro-Philosophy
- 10 Getting and Grip on the Conscious Human Agent
- 10.1 Recapitulation
- 10.2 The Dawn of the Conscious Human Agent
- 10.3 From Biology to Philosophical Anthropology
- Coda
- 11 Waving Farewell to the Hand
- 11.1 Introduction
- 11.2 The Paradox of Handyman: (1) Part of
- and Separate from Nature
- 11.3 The Paradox of the Handyman: (2) Subject to and Yet Manipulating Nature's Laws
- 11.4 The Balance Sheet: (1) Knowledge. Does the Hand Grasp the Truth?
- 11.5 The Balance Sheet: (2) Moral and Spiritual
- 11.6 Handing On
- 11.7 A Last Wave Farewell
- Index.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780748617388
Description
What are the origins of human difference? The Hand, which is the first part of a bold philosophical inquiry into the nature of the difference between human beings and other animals, argues that it is the result of a complex sequence of events which began several million years ago with the evolution of the human hand. Possession of a fully developed hand profoundly transformed the relationship of the human being to its own body, thus altering the relationship between humans and the natural world. The interaction of the hand with the rest of the body brought about self-consciousness and laid the foundations for the unique sense of agency that is experienced by humans. Crucially, the hand inspired the tool-use that has come to dominate human life and which has led to the emergence of the complex symbolic systems - most importantly language - that underpin civilisation. The book also celebrates the hand in human life: the almost miraculous complexity of its manipulative, exploratory and communicative functions.
Raymond Tallis combines philosophical reflection with a light-hearted look at gestures, the role of each finger, the origins of numbers - and the case for and against what he names 'handkind'. The Hand is the first of three volumes. The other titles are I Am: A Philosophical Inquiry into First-Person Being and The Knowing Animal: A Philosophical Inquiry into Truth and Knowledge.
Table of Contents
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Overture
- 1 Grasping the Hand
- 1.1 Preliminary Grapplings
- 1.2 The Manipulative Hand
- 1.3 The Knowing Hand
- 1.4 The Communicative Hand
- 1.5 From Prehension to Apprehension
- Part I Brachio-Chiral
- 2 The Armed Hand
- 2.1 Two Fingers to Over-digitisation
- 2.2 The Genius of Reaching
- 2.3 Mechanism and Agency
- 3 The Talking Hand
- 3.1 Introduction: The Sign-making Animal
- 3.2 Gesturing
- 3.3 Clapping and Other Hand Shouting
- 3.4 Handsome
- 4 Hand Talking to Hand
- 4.1 Manucaption
- 4.2 The Dialogue of the Left Hand with the Right
- 4.3 The Interlocutors
- 4.4 The Hand Talking to its Self or the Self
- 5 The Playful Hand
- 5.1 Introduction
- 5.2 The Carnal Hand
- 5.3 Hand Games
- 5.4 Post-script: Handy (like)
- Part II Chiro-Digital
- 6 One-finger Exercises
- 6.1 Introduction
- 6.2 Thumb
- 6.3 Index
- 6.4 Middle
- 6.5 Ring
- 6.6 Little
- 7 Polydactylic Exercises
- 7.1 Introduction: The Ordeal of Precision
- 7.2 Two Fingers
- 7.3 Three Fingers
- 7.4 Four Fingers
- 7.5 Five Fingers
- 7.6 Ten Fingers
- 8 Abstract Digits
- 8.1 Introduction and Disclaimer
- 8.2 The Number Sense: From Magnitudes to Digits
- 8.3 Digits and Digits
- 8.4 Units: From Counting to Measurement
- 8.5 The Unreasonable Power of the Precision of Abstract Digits
- 9The Tool of Tools
- 9.1 Prologue: The Self-shaping Hand
- 9.2 Tool-using, Tool-making and the Tool of Tools
- 9.3 Tools and the Origin of Human Culture
- 9.4 Eolith and SuperCray
- 9.5 Tools and Language
- 9.6 Brain, Tools and Language
- 9.7 Beyond Biology and Biologism
- 9.8 Epilogue: Handicraft
- Appendix: Karl Marx and the Collectivisation of
- Human Consciousness in Tools
- Part III Towards Chiro-Philosophy
- 10 Getting and Grip on the Conscious Human Agent
- 10.1 Recapitulation
- 10.2 The Dawn of the Conscious Human Agent
- 10.3 From Biology to Philosophical Anthropology
- Coda
- 11 Waving Farewell to the Hand
- 11.1 Introduction
- 11.2 The Paradox of Handyman: (1) Part of
- and Separate from Nature
- 11.3 The Paradox of the Handyman: (2) Subject to and Yet Manipulating Nature's Laws
- 11.4 The Balance Sheet: (1) Knowledge. Does the Hand Grasp the Truth?
- 11.5 The Balance Sheet: (2) Moral and Spiritual
- 11.6 Handing On
- 11.7 A Last Wave Farewell
- Index.
by "Nielsen BookData"
