Flanagan, Owen

Owen Flanagan (1949-) is an American philosopher known for his work in philosophy of mind, moral psychology, and consciousness studies, with significant contributions to naturalistic approaches to spirituality and the soul. As James B. Duke Professor of Philosophy at Duke University, Flanagan has developed influential arguments for understanding human nature through the integration of philosophical analysis with empirical findings from neuroscience and psychology. In "The Problem of the Soul" (2002), he addresses the tension between scientific materialism and traditional religious conceptions of the soul, arguing for a naturalistic understanding of human consciousness that preserves meaning and moral agency while rejecting dualistic and supernatural accounts. His work advocates for "neural Buddhism" and explores how scientific naturalism can accommodate spiritual experiences and ethical flourishing without invoking transcendent entities. Flanagan's contributions have been crucial in developing philosophically sophisticated responses to religious claims about human nature from a naturalistic perspective.