Wayfarer

OK then - simulating acts of judgement. In this case, the inference was clearly fallacious, as it indicated that a dead salmon's brain was being stimu...

Interesting question! And I suppose the answer must be 'yes' - insects are indeed conscious agents, albeit simple ones. Can you think of an analogy in...

I notice you have to place judgement in scare quotes, to allow for the obvious fact that computers don't make judgements at all. They compute outcomes...

Aha. But the issue is, to decide in what way all of those physical causes give rise to a perception of meaning is itself a matter of judgement. The de...

What is worth contemplating is why the best-known materialist philosopher and spokesman for ‘new atheism’ feels obliged to deny it.

I take the statement ‘consciousness is a condition for illusion’ to be apodictic, for exactly the reasons identified by Descartes.

:up: A body has no illusions. Consciousness is a condition for illusion. I do see Javra’s point. You’re taking something apodictic, and making it hypo...

And what I’m saying is that the assertion that consciousness could be ‘an illusion’ implies a conscious subject - one who is subject to the illusion. ...

Well, the problem would be, if you said that, that ‘illusions’ are artefacts of consciousness. They’re not physical things. Sure, again, a physical ca...

I quite like Ross Douthat and David Brooks, who are regarded as conservative OP writers in the NY Times. Every so often I log onto the National Review...

I like Jim Baggott's comment: David Deutsch the cult leader, and the Quantum Computer the cargo. :cool:

A relevant review from Peter Woit.

Thank you, very interesting.

Yes, but what changed the physical state? What was the causal factor? It was a change in the understanding, in the perception. That is why it can be d...

But in saying that, you’re saying a belief is physical. One minute you believe that the placebo will work - and it will, because you believe it. Then ...

Well, you have certainly convinced me that it is pointless to debate you.

:up:

One point I have recently reflected on is whether there is an etymological connection between 'politics' and 'polite'. I suppose there must be, as 'po...

Thanks for that perceptive and meticulously argued post. I appreciate the detail you have provided as it gives me a much better understanding of the k...

Ah - but can we? I don't profess Christianity, but I am not atheist. In the context of Western philosophy, therefore, I tend to favour theistically-or...

That's a very good question. People speak blithely about 'artificial intelligence' as if such devices really were beings, and not machines. But if the...

So, there's a scientific reason why I might decide to be a scientist - but we can't know what it is. Because of what you keep saying. Well, here, for ...

remember this one: http://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/debt.png Strangely the Republicans now say nothing at all about much huge...

See The Anti-Christian Alt-Right in the ecumenical religious studies journal, First Things. Insightful account into some of the intellectual sources o...

How about: the belief that all philosophical questions have scientific answers.

Citation, please. Actually, that’s not ‘another issue’. That is the issue that I was commenting on. Everything else in your response, is simply your i...

Do you think there is a scientific reason why some people choose scientific careers, rather than careers in diplomacy or the arts? Everything you’re s...

What about the placebo effect, then? Those are examples of 'top-down causation' which would mitigate against a physicalist explanation, would they not...

:up:

Also Jacques Ellul for the contra.

First, there is a mountain. Then there is no mountain. Then there is.

It’s too sweeping to say that ‘we cannot say what it means to be real or to exist’. What I am saying is that it seems assumed by physicalists that the...

Yeah but we're not tenured as 'professors of philosophy'. Hence the never-ending discussion of philosophy of physics on these forums. The irony is tha...

I can’t help but think that Godel’s theorem has some bearing on the question. It would seem to undermine the first term in the argument, viz, that all...

Have to pitch in here. The phrase 'human potential' is most strongly associated with the 60's 'consciousness' movement - think California, Esalen, EST...

It is well-known that Schrodinger was a lifelong fan of Schopenhauer, more than Berkeley. and also expressed an interest in Vedanta. I referred to thi...

You keep overlooking the so-called ‘fact-value’ dichotomy, specifically, that judgements about what is amenable to measurement are of a different orde...

It’s too sweeping a generalisation but there’s some truth in it.

There’s this politician, see....... OK I should enlarge on that. I ran into Guy DeBord on the web about 10 years ago, and it’s veracity seemed entirel...

It does seem rather laborious to me I’m sorry. I think I could be described as a ‘religious naturalist’ - I believe that empathy and compassion are re...

D'oh. Can't keep myself away. The link between the European Enlightenment and scientific reductionism needs to be noted. Basically Comte (who invented...

I'm on sabbatical at the moment - working on a job in meatspace which needs constant attention. Be back much later.

https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*9JoOfMcpLY1M6TpfbUauug.gif

Logging out for a week. Have to say it, otherwise I won't. I have a major project due before Easter and have to concentrate. :shade:

I think Richard Gage is a conspiracy theorist and I have not the least interest in anything he has to say. At that is definitely, absolutely the last ...

As I mentioned, there was a documentary that was broadcast a long time ago - I can't recall when, it might have been ten years ago. The temperatures t...

It’s nonsense, Posty. It isn’t a matter of ‘cherished beliefs’ or ‘alternative ways of seeing things’ - it’s just nonsense. I was very disappointed th...

Here’s where I see the problem with your OP, which I really ought not to have responded to. I think there is simply no question that a Russian agent w...

My response was triggered by the suggestion that actually it was the UK behind it, which I think is a disgusting insinuation. Then there was just a hi...

Indeed. But I must resist the urge to set such ideas straight. There’s too many of them, and life’s too short.,,,