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what is your definition of "reality-transcending elements." For instance I write music, and that is a reality-transcending element for me. Or are you ...

"I'm not saying a job and kids isn't fulfilling, my comment was directed at the comment "...to create, to explore, to share, to enjoy." At least some ...

I agree. My point is when someone says "what is the meaning in life" or "what is my purpose" I think they mean a metaphysical thing that was there whe...

. "Before deciding on the purpose of human life it seems we have to decide if the universe is here to serve Man's needs or does Man exist to serve the...

So people who haven't got time for those things, who have 3 jobs, 2 1/5 kids and crushing debt, have no purpose?

It's an option to create purpose, but it's not a "purpose" in itself. But yes you can create a purpose, I think you should, but that's a lot different...

Sorry to interject, but has anyone else argued that there's no meaning or purpose to life? That both those words imply an outside creator or force tha...

I'm confident in this discussion. Not the others tho, where I have much to learn. G'night...feel free to have the last word.

Wow that's wrong on so many levels. I really feel like we're on different planets. We're so far apart further discussion seems pointless. It's time fo...

. "which is a sensible event - causes B - which is a mental event" How?

So when you have a thought, like I feel good, it's your brain feeling it. When you feel love, or other qualia, it's the brain not the mind that feels ...

Ok well we're reading different accounts of the history of philosophy. So you have solved the mind-body problem. You realize that might make you a "pr...

So you mean you don't have the thought (mind) "I wan't to watch Netflix" and this causes your brain to signal you finger to push the button on the rem...

So when your mind thinks about changing the tv channnel, you're body DOESN'T do it?

"Plato, Avicenna, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Bartricks". On the shoulders of giants. Sorry I couldn't resist. All of the philosophers you mention had...

Point taken. Ok so my next question is do you think the mind is a nonphysical substance with no connection to the brain, because a non physical thing ...

You really don't know the definition of the mind-body problem? Or is it just easier to follow a question with another question?

A thought occurred to me....I have no problem continuing the discussion, but can we at least stop a second and agree that consciousness/qualia/love et...

I've read over all your comments, and the main conclusions that come out the most clearly are 1) You don't seem to think the mind-body problem is a pr...

...part 2 Bartricks: My reason also tells me that I have free will, yet tells me at the same time that I would not have free will - not of the robust ...

Hi Bartricks - if you read my opening post I positioned myself as a rooky philosopher, and my goal here is to learn (i.e. keep an open mind). So my de...

Thanks for this "It appears to be based on personal bias. Thirdly, if a hypothesis of dualism makes no physically tangible claims, then I fail to see ...

how could anyone argue that consciousness ISN'T simply an integral aspect of the material brain - DESPITE the fact that the can't be explained scienti...

We have gone over these things, why I think QM exists (testing), our differing opinions on qualia, and your frustration over what you see as the expan...

"I am not dismissive of solipism at all, but extreme reductionism results in absurdism" Can you explain what you mean?

Awesome response thanks. I may have run across an argument against solipsism myself, and more broadly against any "unrefutable" theory. Someone could ...

Sorry I added a bit to the last comment so... "We already discussed what material substance means. But regardless, you said love is real like a TABLE,...

You seem to think that's a bad word Lol! So you don't mean real like a table? A table has material substance. We already discussed what material subst...

We came up with many words without knowing the science behind them, come on. So are you saying if you use a word and describe it as a thing, that mean...

Alrighty! So Davidson (and I think Spinoza before him?) seemed to want consciousness to be a real causal agent, but also somehow separate from the bra...

"....if what you're saying is true, we would have needed to have a good grasp of neurology before we even came up with words like "love" or "anger". B...

"Materialists would say Qualia don’t exist." Maybe I should have said "consciousness" instead of qualia, to be more clear. Materialists come in differ...

true. I'll come back later and revisit.

"...there is something implicitly disparaging to the education in itself if solipsism is right." I have been accused of such things haha. I'm pretty s...

From the cursory reading I've done on Davidson and anomalous monism, I can already see many things that strike me (and many other critics) as logical ...

but is he talking about two entities? Isn't that dualism? How and where do they interact?

Same thing, that's what I'm saying. If you damage the brain, your mind will change. When your brain dies, you mind dies. Again I'm being reductive, bu...

"I think the hypothesis doubts the notions of objective empirical world and our community. It is indeed a hypothesis, but for some it is with a high v...

Thanks for the reply. "But there are contrary cases as well - " Your examples don't show that there's no change of qualia after brain injuries. Phinea...

I agree. It seems likely that will happen.

Thanks so much for the answer. I'm a slow reader so going through it as we speak - maybe I'll engage one idea at a time. In the early stages you seem ...

I understand your point. The experience of a quale is different from the source of the experience. I think this is exactly the argument that's raging ...

Oh I forgot to answer the last question. No. I think they are the same thing. (didn't I answer this already?) Sorry it's late and I have the Covid Cra...

"That you had to make a distinction means they're not the same thing no?" No. I am saying they are the same thing, I figured you'd get that. "Ah so th...

Anyway I've already agreed that consciousness/love/emotions can't be found in the brain. I can't find them, and you can't. Even fMRI's showing areas t...

Interesting. I actually agree that solipsism can NOT be argued with, and that a lot of thinkers that have now disproven theories seem to end up in a s...

Haha good. How much does love weigh? How much do the chemicals that create the feeling of love weigh. That's your answer. Option 2: The concept of lov...

I don't mind (pun intended unfortunately)

Materialists would try to say that the experience of love doesn't exist. All that exists are the chemicals. That's what I'm saying. You just expressed...

I don't know what moral mass means. I'm going with your statement that love isn't a physical thing. My argument is simply that - I agree. The feeling ...