Music is central to human cultural and intellectual experience. It is vitally important for the welfare of human society and - this book argues - should become more widely accepted in our community as a mainstream educational and therapeutic tool. This book explores the importance of music throughout human evolution, and its continued relevance to modern-day human society. Throughout, the emphasis is on the origin of music and how (and where) it is processed in our brains, exploring in detail the genetic and cultural evolution of modern, loquacious humans, how we may have evolved with unique neural and cognitive architecture, and why two complementary but distinct communication systems - language and music - remain a human universal. In addition the book explores, in some depth, the different theories that have been put forward to explain why musical communication was (and remains) advantageous to our species, with a particular emphasis on the role of music and dance in enhancing altruistic and prosocial behaviours. The author suggests that music, and the social harmonization it brings, was of vital importance in early humans as we became more and more individualized by the emergence of modern language and the modern mind, and the realization that we are mortal. Music, Evolution, and the Harmony of Souls demonstrates the evolutionary sociobiological importance of music as a driver of cooperative and interactive behaviour throughout human existence, and what this evolutionary imperative means to twenty-first century humanity and beyond, from social and medical/neurological perspectives

What, if anything, do dreams tell us about ourselves? What is the relationship between types of sleep and types of dreams? Does dreaming serve any purpose? Or are dreams simply meaningless mental noise--"unmusical fingers wandering over the piano keys"? With expertise in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, Owen Flanagan is uniquely qualified to answer these questions. And in Dreaming Souls he provides both an accessible survey of the latest research on sleep and dreams and a compelling new theory about the nature and function of dreaming. Flanagan argues that while sleep has a clear biological function and adaptive value, dreams are merely side effects, "free riders," irrelevant from an evolutionary point of view. But dreams are hardly unimportant. Indeed, Flanagan argues that dreams are self-expressive, the result of our need to find or to create meaning, even when we're sleeping. Rejecting Freud's theory of manifest and latent content--of repressed wishes appearing in disguised form--Flanagan shows how brainstem activity during sleep generates a jumbled profusion of memories, images, thoughts, emotions, and desires, which the cerebral cortex then attempts to shape into a more or less coherent story. Such dream-narratives range from the relatively mundane worries of non REM sleep to the fantastic confabulations of deep REM that resemble psychotic episodes in their strangeness. But however bizarre these narratives may be, they can shed light on our mental life, our well being, and our sense of self. Written with clarity, lively wit, and remarkable insight, Dreaming Souls offers a fascinating new way of apprehending one of the oldest mysteries of mental life.

The grand religious stories that gave meaning to life and death in the past have crumbled under sceptical scrutiny. The dominant mainstream philosophy is now scientific objectivism, which describes a universe that exists for no reason and a life that ends in oblivion. In this book pioneering philosopher Tim Freke addresses the 'soul crisis' in modern culture that has arisen from lack of meaning. He offers an intelligent 'spiritual' perspective on life and death to help us make sense of a paradoxical world, which is sometimes bleak and banal, but also can be magical and full of significance. He presents a revolutionary paradigm shift in our understanding of reality that integrates the deepest insights of science and spirituality to create a new model of human identity, which makes the idea of the immortal soul intellectually credible. He explores the process of evolution, not as blind chance, but as the momentous story of the self-realising universe. The development of the material world has led to the emergence of 'psyche' or 'soul', which you are experiencing right now as a stream of thoughts and images that don?t exist in space and aren't made of matter. We are not insignificant specks in a vast purposeless cosmos. We are significant participants in the magnificent and meaningful story of soul. The universe is coming to know itself through each one of us and this process doesn't end at death, because the evolution of soul has also been the evolution of immorality.

This book is a clear and concise history of the soul in western philosophy, from Plato to cutting-edge contemporary work in philosophy of mind. Packed with arguments for and against a range of different, historically significant philosophies of the soul Addresses the essential issues, including mind-body interaction, the causal closure of the physical world, and the philosophical implications of the brain sciences for the soul's existence Includes coverage of theories from key figures, such as Plato, Aquinas, Locke, Hume, and Descartes Unique in combining the history of ideas and the development of a powerful case for a non-reductionist, non-materialist account of the soul

The belief in soul evolution comes from the commonly held assumption that each person is spiritually incomplete, that we have returned to this earthly school for lessons our souls need to move to the next higher level. The Complete Soul: Exposing the Myth of Soul Evolution challenges this belief. Your soul, like the drop of water taken from the ocean, is complete. The spiritual awakening is not about evolution. It is about recovering your soul from the false sense of self and its evolutionary timeline, a perceived barrier between where you think you are and where you want to be. This book takes the position that no such barrier exists. Within these pages, you will discover that you did not come here to learn something from the people, places, and things of this earth. You came for the experience. You came because you had something you wanted to give. The Complete Soul affirms your spiritual wholeness and suggests creative new ways of thinking about your reason for taking on this physical body. As you consider these ideas, you may discover that the fulfillment you seek is a lot closer than you think.

This book also includes, The 4 Stages of Soul Evolution. If you prefer to take charge of your own destiny instead of being a follower. If you like to think and feel your way through life. If you want to find out what's under the surface, what's the real meaning of things instead of what's being pushed by the mainstream at any one time. If you dust your belief system from time to time and reevaluate your likes and dislikes. If you have managed (or seriously trying) to undo your childhood programming. If you're hungry for wisdom and to push yourself higher at all times. Then this book is for you. For those focused on mental and spiritual growth and breaking personal barriers, there has never been a better time. We're living in an era of accelerated experiences and heightened reality. The holy grail of personal growth, spirituality and yoga is self-realization. For those truly seeking self-empowerment there is no greater mission. It is the intention and the mission of this book to cut through centuries old haze of disinformation that has existed about the power of real spirituality and to inspire, guide and help you to keep on expanding and ascending.

Explores a new phase of human evolution that reflects a growing understanding about authentic, spiritual power based on cooperative beliefs and a reverence for life.

Making a new religious freedom -- Independent black church conventions, 1866-1868 -- Religion, race, and gender at the congregational level -- Theological education, race relations, and gender, 1875-1882 -- Politics of engagement.

Soul initiation is an essential spiritual adventure that most of the world has forgotten — or not yet discovered. Here, visionary ecopsychologist Bill Plotkin maps this journey, one that has not been previously illuminated in the contemporary Western world and yet is vital for the future of our species and our planet. Based on the experiences of thousands of people, this book provides phase-by-phase guidance for the descent to soul — the dissolution of current identity; the encounter with the mythopoetic mysteries of soul; and the metamorphosis of the ego into a cocreator of life-enhancing culture. Plotkin illustrates each phase of this riveting and sometimes hazardous odyssey with fascinating stories from many people, including those he has guided. Throughout he weaves an in-depth exploration of Carl Jung's Red Book — and an innovative framework for understanding it.

A new theory about the origins of consciousness that finds learning to be the driving force in the evolutionary transition to basic consciousness. What marked the evolutionary transition from organisms that lacked consciousness to those with consciousness—to minimal subjective experiencing, or, as Aristotle described it, “the sensitive soul”? In this book, Simona Ginsburg and Eva Jablonka propose a new theory about the origin of consciousness that finds learning to be the driving force in the transition to basic consciousness. Using a methodology similar to that used by scientists when they identified the transition from non-life to life, Ginsburg and Jablonka suggest a set of criteria, identify a marker for the transition to minimal consciousness, and explore the far-reaching biological, psychological, and philosophical implications. After presenting the historical, neurobiological, and philosophical foundations of their analysis, Ginsburg and Jablonka propose that the evolutionary marker of basic or minimal consciousness is a complex form of associative learning, which they term unlimited associative learning (UAL). UAL enables an organism to ascribe motivational value to a novel, compound, non-reflex-inducing stimulus or action, and use it as the basis for future learning. Associative learning, Ginsburg and Jablonka argue, drove the Cambrian explosion and its massive diversification of organisms. Finally, Ginsburg and Jablonka propose symbolic language as a similar type of marker for the evolutionary transition to human rationality—to Aristotle's “rational soul.”