One of Choice‎'‎s Outstanding Academic Titles for 2011 ‎"‎[Thagard] offers a tightly reasoned‎,‎ often humorous‎,‎ and original contribution to the emerging practice of applying science to areas heretofore the province of philosophers‎,‎ theologians‎,‎ ethicists‎,‎ and politicians‎:‎ What is reality and how can we know it‎?‎ Are mind and brain one or two‎?‎ What is the source of the sense of self‎?‎ What is love‎?‎ What is the difference between right and wrong‎,‎ and how can we know it‎?‎ What is the most legitimate form of government‎?‎ What is the meaning of life‎,‎ and how can we find happiness in it‎?‎ Thagard employs the latest tools and findings of science in his attempts to answer these ‎(‎and additional‎)‎ questions‎.‎‎"‎‎-‎-Michael Shermer‎,‎ Science ‎"‎A thoughtful and well‎-researched attempt to answer that most fundamental existential question‎:‎ why not kill yourself‎?‎ Or‎,‎ to give it a positive spin‎,‎ what gives life meaning‎?‎ Thagard lays out detailed arguments that reality is knowable through science‎,‎ that minds are nothing other than material brains and that there are no ultimate rights and wrongs handed down by a supernatural being‎.‎‎"‎‎-‎-New Scientist ‎"‎Thagard‎'‎s ‎'‎neural naturalism‎'‎ promises nothing short of a conceptual revolution‎,‎ or better‎,‎ a paradigm shift‎.‎ His evidence‎-based strategy uses the data from psychology and neuroscience to expose empirically based answers to questions such as‎,‎ What is the meaning of life‎?‎ What ought one to do‎?‎ ‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎ Thagard‎'‎s reader‎-friendly text includes a glossary‎,‎ endnotes‎,‎ and extensive references‎.‎‎"‎‎-‎-Choice ‎"‎The name of this well‎-written and ambitious book understates the breadth of its scope‎.‎ The book deals with the relation of modern neuroscience not only to the meaning of life‎,‎ but also to ethics‎,‎ metaphysics‎,‎ and epistemology‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎ The discussion is rich‎,‎ unorthodox‎,‎ and frequently exciting‎.‎‎"‎‎-‎-Iddo Landau‎,‎ Metapsychology Online Reviews ‎"‎The book integrates decades of multidisciplinary research‎,‎ but its clear explanations and humor make it accessible to the general reader‎.‎‎"‎‎-‎-Gaia Media News ‎"‎[R]eaders will find much of the author‎'‎s advice to be beneficial‎.‎ The book contains many good suggestions for making one‎'‎s life better including advice on how to be happier and how to make good decisions‎,‎ all based on solid research in psychology and neuroscience‎.‎ For anyone who is curious about current research in these fields‎,‎ Thagard‎'‎s book provides an accessible introduction to important concepts and theories‎.‎‎"‎‎-‎-Margery Lucas‎,‎ Society ‎"‎Thagard has published a string of distinguished books and papers on reasoning and scientific explanation‎,‎ and was a pioneer in using cognitive science to study the way scientists think‎.‎ The sections on reasoning bear the imprint of this work‎,‎ and pack a lot of philosophy into a short span‎.‎‎"‎‎-‎-Dominic Murphy‎,‎ Australian Review of Public Affairs