bert1

Starting with a concept of phenomenal consciousness which is not defined functionally, and then offering an explanation of that in terms of structure ...

I'm not that interested in Chalmers, probably because I suspect I'll agree with him about most things. I haven't actually read much of his hard proble...

Something might be conceivable even without anyone to conceive it. It's about possibility. It's more obvious to think of in terms of logical possibili...

Conceivablility isn't a subjective feat, it's a reasonably public property of propositions. Just as the validity of inferences is objective. If we dis...

All very good questions. Each worth a thread.

Really? Do you not find the argument from analogy completely compelling? I know some don't, but I struggle to understand why not.

Good question. I find that conceptually possible, because I do think the symphony is the same kind of thing as the orchestra. Beethoven symphony, howe...

No worries, I know we disagree on the substantive issues. I was invoking you on one or two of the logical matters which I thought you might already kn...

Yes, that would be good. We have another verb 'make'. Like you, I have always though that empirical possibility entails conceptual possibility. But ma...

@"fdrake" That's interesting. Those premises form the basis of the argument by analogy, or the abductive argument. No science necessary. An armchair p...

deleted because off topic

I wasn't gong to quote Nickolasgaspar but I will here as he offered a response to RogueAI's question. Predictably, this is a purely functionlist analy...

Yes, which is to say that philosophy, to borrow @"fdrake"'s metaphor, is 'upstream' of science, perhaps. When assessing a claim we could go through th...

'Metaphysical' yes, although perhaps 'conceptual' might be a better word. Opinion is contrasted with knowledge rather than fact. Panpsychism might be ...

That's interesting. I frequently wonder what the word 'physical' means. I think it may be 'whatever has structure which does stuff (function).' And I ...

Indeed. This happens a lot, even academics do it. Functionalists sometimes end up saying 'but that's just what I mean by consciousness'. Which is fine...

In this thread, it's like your second example: "Why is the sky blue?" - physical cause of 'blueness' I want to know the physical 'cause' of consciousn...

Another good question. It seems to me we'd have to assume a hypothesis first that makes a prediction which we then test. How do we choose a hypothesis...

Good question. Indeed the same question applies to other humans too. How do we scientifically determine if another human is conscious, without begging...

I more or less agree. I found his unpleasantness easy to ignore. But he pretty much asked to be banned in his last post, and he robusty refused modera...

@"Nickolasgaspar" Don't martyr yourself just yet! You've made some interesting points I still want to get to. Especially where you said something abou...

Your definition is theory-laden. It's not the definition in the OP of the thread. I don't recall you offering a definition of the self. Fooloso4's sta...

I do explicitly say in my post the self can be distinguished from consciousness. I'll die, and nothing of me will be left over, except my products I s...

What woo am I trying to monger?

Yup. The one in my avatar has been a good friend. Reliable. Good listener.

@"Nickolasgaspar" Right, I have got around to looking at a couple of those articles you linked to. Thank you for doing that. I was relieved to discove...

That's an interesting question. Lets have a run through of the obvious possibilities (some of which may overlap): - substance - matter/field - entity/...

Humans are, indeed, required for human consciousness. What is required for rock consciousness? A rock?

I broadly agree. Some (forget the name of the guy I'm thinking of) say that there are no absolutely private facts about your experience. They say it i...

Sorry, everyone, I'm still catching up. I'm only on page 5. I'll probably be jumping around a bit. Yes, every position on consciousness, including the...

Please no guessing! It's hard enough when we try and respond to what people actually say. If we start talking to what we think are people's hidden mot...

'Why' questions aren't always about teleology. They just ask for an explanation of some kind. We're not going to be able to have a conversation if eve...

That's an interesting argument for other minds. A subject for another thread perhaps.

I'd like to be able to provide you with some answer. I can't, I don't think. What I can do is say something else which might help. The word 'produce' ...

Thanks, that's interesting. I've taken the liberty of bolding a few of the words in there. I want to make a list of verbs that have been used to chara...

I'll pick two at random then. What do you think of Tononi's IIT? I read that one. He's a neuroscientist. Can you state in you own words how the brain ...

You mean like ChatGPT? Not sure. It's a good question. I think probably not, although the matter in the chips that run the program is.

The dead don't exist any more. But as a good panpsychist I think that the rotting corpse is conscious. Just not conscious of very much.

That's a nice question. Lets add it to the others that haven't been answered.

I think this is muddled. It's not consciousness that ceases, but the self.

Yeah, I'm not going to read all that. I've read things people have suggested before on consciousness and it hasn't helped. Most notably Tononi on the ...

Yes, I think you are probably right about that. From what I recall, Dennett and a few others (forget their names) give accounts of 1-5 and then say "T...

I can get rid of the 'why'. I think this may be a language barrier. 'Why' isn't always meant in a teleological sense, it often, perhaps usually, meant...

Thanks fdrake that's really good. Lots there to chew on. I'll respond in detail when I get a mo.

This is a great question, and I'm sorry to say I can't even give you an example bare-bones answer. Absolutely no idea. @"apokrisis" suggested a switch...

Are you sympathetic with Colin McGinn then? Consciousness is in principle comprehensible, but not by us at the moment? Is this because we lack the con...

Yes it's interesting. I think it's a genuine hard problem for pure idealists. In fact it's much easier to see the hard problem when you try to derive ...

There is no error in the OP. It's not making a claim about the world. It's a hypothetical. If anything it's a challenge to those who think consciousne...

Drives me up the fucking wall. It's not complicated is it? It's a good OP, interesting question. I don't have much more to say on the subject unfortun...

Yes, I suspect TheMadMan understood your point the first time you made it. Would you like to answer his question?