Mortal Questions

Thomas Nagel's Mortal Questions explores some fundamental issues concerning the meaning, nature and value of human life. Questions about our attitudes to death, sexual behaviour, social inequality, war and political power are shown to lead to more obviously philosophical problems about personal identity, consciousness, freedom and value. This original and illuminating book aims...

Thomas Nagel's Mortal Questions explores some fundamental issues concerning the meaning, nature and value of human life. Questions about our attitudes to death, sexual behaviour, social inequality, war and political power are shown to lead to more obviously philosophical problems about personal identity, consciousness, freedom and value. This original and illuminating book aims at a form of understanding that is both theoretical and personal in its lively engagement with what are literally issues of life and death.

托马斯时・内格尔，美国当代分析哲学家，以研究政治哲学、伦理学、认识论和心的哲学而著称。

本书探讨人生的意义、本质和价值。作者从对待死亡、性行为、社会不平等、自由和价值等更为基本的哲学问题，引申出有关人格同一性、意识、自由和价值等更为基本的哲学问题。贯串全书的中心，乃是个体的人生观及其与各种非个人的实在概念的关系这一问题。正是这个问题，突破了哲学内部的界线，从伦理学延伸到形而上学。同样出于对这个问题的关注，引发了论述心的哲学、论荒诞、论道德运气的文章。

作者的论述清晰明了，体现了分析哲学的特有风格。