StarsFromMemory

I don't think that individuation occurs due to perception. If you do believe that these elementary particles exists independant of the mind, then the ...

Yes, that is exactly what I meant when I said:

I would agree. However, if practicality and not reason is the primary motivation for a belief, then such a belief cannot be justified as true. If some...

Okay, I think you misunderstood me there. I do hold that everyone can choose their own belief system and we are no one to question that. My post was n...

Okay, initially I didn't intend to use this thread to discuss purpose. First - you are advocating for the presence of a universal purpose for all huma...

Okay I see how you interpreted it. I didn't say 'I don't believe in THE universal purpose'. I said 'I don't believe in a universal purpose' which shou...

"If we pick our initial opinions arbitrarily — which, as I have said, I think is fine, and as I elaborate elsewhere in these essays, even unavoidable ...

I mentioned I don't believe in a universal purpose. We just don't have to look towards God for purpose while justifying his existence based on phenome...

That is where I disagree. I believe there cannot be any universal purpose (one that applies to all humans) kinda like an existential nihilist. Indeed....

I am not implying that animals are corrupt by nature. They simply don't have the means to be corrupt. Their desires and behaviour are strictly based f...

Okay I apologise, I misinterpreted the article. Thanks a lot of pointing that out. I get what you mean about inverted qualia being incoherent now. Fun...

One last question. When a functionalists says that the function of pain is to produce negative thoughts, a flight-fight response etc, on what basis is...

There should be a distinction. One would mean changing perception to ensure no change in behaviour is required, and the other would be changing behavi...

I don't think so The author accepts the possibility that there might be an inversion, however the author also maintains that the inversion, while poss...

Also, 'Mary's Room' thought experiment demonstrates the existence of qualia almost perfectly. The thought experiment is described in the entry. So I d...

Feelings and experiences vary widely. For example, I run my fingers over sandpaper, smell a skunk, feel a sharp pain in my finger, seem to see bright ...

If that was truly the case, then panpsychism would indeed be irrelevant and even stupid. However, panpsychism does explain human consciousness. If we ...

Do you have a point you want to make using the case of such reflex action? Sure, in some cases behaviour does precede the mental state but that does n...

I thought it was settled that not all experience comes with some sorta delay. Most are caused by mental states or a combination of mental states. Only...

Yes, but those philosophical presuppositions are entirely justified while the presuppositions required for the correction of qualia before it becomes ...

Okay, If that does not sound strange to you, that is fine but let me propose two more arguments I came across. Again, these are not mine, I am merely ...

I think that would be correct if we only look at reflex actions. It is true that when we touch a hot object, we move our hand before we experience the...

Not a single reason, other than the fact that it explains certain aspects of consciousness. It is not without problems though. Look at it this way, we...

That is the conclusion. That this system would be conscious just like we are (For simplicity, let us assume the homonculi perform no other function )....

Evolution is simply the accumulation of gradual changes in an organsim. These changes can be facilitated by natural selection or can happen due to oth...

Okay, it is not a fact, but consider the following argument proposed by David Chalmer I think : Suppose a population of tiny people disable your brain...

Again while trying to refute the possibiltiy of the existence of P-Zombie, which poses a serious challenge to your view, you assume that your view is ...

If you go by panpyschism or functionalist panpyschism, then all of those are conscious.

The fact that is not impossible that a P-Zombie can exist is a challenge to your functionalist conclusion. P-Zombie are defined as humans with same be...

Anything that evolves from mechanisms other than natural selection is a product of evolution but not of natural selection.

I think the problem is not with religion but with the masses who will blindly follow one interpretation of a religious text and glorify it as the only...

Indeed, I know many people who simply choose to not believe in god because they think it makes them more rational and even smarter than others who do....

This is what I would choose as an alternative to functionalism and panpsychism ; that consciousness arises from the processing of huge amounts of info...

Good to know about this analogy. I had always thought of the subjectivity of experience, mostly of colour and that there was no way to deduce that my ...

True, that we must identify some characteristic behaviours, however consider the following : Let's assume that bacterias do have consciousness due to ...

I think we should consider that consciousness is a product of information integration by a complex nervous system. I am not really convinced by this b...

So, birds do have self awareness? And I don't seem to find a reason for why consciousness gives me a survival advantage over an ameoba, which you say ...

Okay, I did read your essay (nice read) and I have a couple of question : "I think nothing wholly new emerges out of nothing like magic when physical ...

Also, the thought experiment 'Mary's Room' does establish the existence of phenomenal experiences

I meant entirely, since Txastopher didn't seem to believe in phenomenal conscious experiences. You either are aware of your existence, or you are not....

What do you make of qualia then? You can't deny that there is indeed a subjective experience when we look at ,say, a colour. Surely self-awareness alo...

From what I gather, you don't seem to think any form of consciousness other than self-consciousness exists What do you mean by self-consciousness? Is ...

That is what emergentism holds right? That the property of the system (consciousness) simply cannot be deduced by looking at the composition/ properti...

To be clear, I am not advocating panpychism as the best theory. Panpychism sound very unintuitive, leads to unintuitive conclusions and still faces a ...

Emergentism doesn't hold that any trace of consciousness is already present in fundamental particles but when they combine in a certain way, out of no...

Is that so? Doesn't emergentism also argue that a new property emerges from simply the combination of matter in such a way that we can never predict s...

Are you suggesting panpsychism or functionalism? Or do you think that some mixture of both is a better theory of consciousness?

No I am not claiming that I had provided argument in support of evolution. What I meant was that if consciousness is a trait of organisms possesing ne...

Everything living? Or everything that exists?

I disagree. All organisms are similar in the sense that all of them are subject to the same physical laws of nature. However, when subjected to those ...