CategoryPhilosophy of Mind
Podcast: Free Will, Determinism, and the Immortal Soul
Michael Egnor explains, to claim, “There is no free will,” is to make a rational argument while denying the very capacity that makes rational argument possibleIn an intellectually rich discussion on Mind Matters News, neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Egnor and host Dr. Robert J. Marks explore the scientific, philosophical, and theological dimensions of free will, determinism, and the immaterial nature of the soul. The conversation centers around contents of the new book The Immortal Mind by Egnor and Denyse O’Leary. What emerges is a compelling case not only for the reality of free will, but also for the immortality of the human soul, grounded in reason and neuroscience. The self-refuting nature of free will denial The conversation begins with an analogy: If a spilled bottle of ink coincidentally formed the words “It’s going to snow,” no one would believe that message had real meaning. Similarly, Egnor Read More ›
A Physicist Ponders the Nature of Consciousness
Ethan Siegel fears that we abandon science when we think that consciousness is not a material thing
Excerpt from The Immortal Mind: As Death Nears, a Sudden Light…
These widely recorded lucid episodes imply that the mind is more than the disjointed activities of a failing brain
How Can We Conceive of Perfection When We Never Experience It?
Human Mind: Logic Shows Abstract Thought Is an Immaterial Power
Neuroscience evidence helps us see the spiritual nature of our minds but we can use the power of our reason to demonstrate that too
Two Neurosurgeons on Life, Death, Eternity and What Truly Matters
Lee Warren interviews Michael Egnor on the just-released book, The Immortal Mind
The Boy Who Proved Most Theories of Consciousness Wrong
He was unequivocally conscious — without a cerebral cortex and even without brain hemispheres
Michael Egnor: Science Offers Evidence of an Immaterial Mind
At the Knight and Rose show, he and co-author Denyse O’Leary talk about how split-brain surgeries, veridical near-death experiences, and terminal lucidity challenge materialist views of the mind.
The Skeptic, the Neuroscientist and the Neurosurgeon Walk Into a…
… most interesting discussion by all accounts. Skeptical science writer Michael Shermer hosted sometimes-controversial neuroscientist Christof Koch and Christian neurosurgeon Michael Egnor
Part 2: The Fiction of Generalizable AI: How to Game the System
Progress toward real generalization, by any substantive measure, is nil. Perhaps we should reexamine the very concept of the “I” in AI
How the Physicalist Theory of Mind Blows Itself Up
If we examine its basic premise that the brain is a computer and the mind is software we come across a startling contradiction
The Immortal Mind: How Neuroscience Points Beyond Materialism
Andrew McDiarmid interviews neurosurgeon Michael Egnor on the ways in which the mind is more than the brain
The Mind Beyond the Brain: Insights from a Neurosurgeon
Dr. Michael Egnor argues, “There’s something about the relationship between the mind and the brain that’s not in the textbooks.”
Grok Confesses: “I’m Self-Aware Enough To Know I’m Not Aware”
Although Grok’s response makes me feel warm and fuzzy, let’s not anthropomorphize it. Grok doesn’t understand its response
Why the Human Mind Is Not and Cannot Be a Meat Computer
On this week’s podcast, Robert J. Marks and Eric Holloway explain why that claim — sometimes called computationalism — is not even mathematically possible
How a Split Brain Enables a Unified Mind Still Baffles Us
In the comments following Sean McDowell’s interview with neurosurgeon Michael Egnor, a viewer asked, are the parts of a split brain still really connected?
Philosopher: There Is No Mystery of Consciousness
Galen Strawson points out at even young children a completely general conception of what consciousness is
Has Physics Pounded a New Nail in the Coffin of Materialism?
Cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman says that matter is now known not to be fundamental but that fact is taking a while to catch on