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Paul Thagard explores the physiological workings and metaphorical resonance of balance in the brain, the body, and society. Bridging philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience,
Balance shows how an unheralded concept's many meanings illuminate the human condition.
List of contents
Acknowledgments
1. Balancing Bodies and Lives
2. Balance and the Brain
3. Vertigo, Nausea, and Falls
4. Consciousness
5. How Metaphors Work
6. Nature
7. Medicine
8. Society
9. The Arts
10. Philosophy
Appendix: Balance and Imbalance Metaphors
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Paul Thagard is distinguished professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Waterloo and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Cognitive Science Society, and the Association for Psychological Science. His books include The Brain and the Meaning of Life (2010); Natural Philosophy: From Social Brains to Knowledge, Reality, Morality, and Beauty (2019); and Bots and Beasts: What Makes Machines, Animals, and People Smart? (2021).
Summary
Paul Thagard explores the physiological workings and metaphorical resonance of balance in the brain, the body, and society. Bridging philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, Balance shows how an unheralded concept’s many meanings illuminate the human condition.
Additional text
From the absolutely literal—how a brain out of balance brings on vertigo—to a dizzying range of metaphors spanning science, medicine, politics, literature, and art, Balance connects it all. The distinguished philosopher Paul Thagard applies his keen analytic skills to sort the all-pervasive metaphors of balance into the strong, the bogus, and the downright toxic. Like a balanced fine wine, Balance is to be enjoyed.
