False Truths (eBook)

Edward C. Mendler grew up in South Bend, Indiana. He served as a Navy radio technician in Guam during the Bikini A-bomb tests in 1946. He graduated from the Lawrenceville School, from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University (magna cum laude), and from Harvard Law School. Mendler practiced law in Boston for fifty years. He has studied and written about philosophy, science, law, and government as well as fiction.

List of IllustrationsPrefaceCHAPTER ONE: RELIANCE ON AUTHORITYOriginsConsequencesCHAPTER TWO: THE STORY OF BELIEFSHow the Ancient Greeks Misled UsThe Middle Ages MuddleWe Were Not EnlightenedCHAPTER THREE: THE PERSISTENCE OF OLD IDEASOld and NewJacques MaritainPope John Paul IIJohn PolkinghorneCHAPTER FOUR: THE ERROR OF DUALISMCausationEpistemologyCHAPTER FIVE: FAITH AND ANTI-FAITHFaithAntifaith — Fair and FoulCHAPTER SIX: PHYSICS AND MYSTERYCosmologyWaves, Particles, QuantaCHAPTER SEVEN: BIOLOGY AND MYSTERYThe Basics of EvolutionThe Burgess ShaleConsciousnessHumans and AnimalsThe Origin of LifeCHAPTER EIGHT: MINDThe Awesome BrainFree Will and FoolishnessNeuroscience — New UnderstandingsCHAPTER NINE: EQUALITY, DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOMEqualityDemocracyFreedomCHAPTER TEN: ENTERPRISE, PLANNING, FREEDOM AND WELFAREThe Basics of EconomicsEnterprise and PlanningWelfare and GridlockCHAPTER ELEVEN: CONCLUSIONSIndex