Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryPhilosophy of Mind

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Iain McGilchrist on Consciousness, Materialism, and Religion

Don't forget the right side of the brain

“The left hemisphere, left to itself, is deluded,” says McGilchrist. It lacks context. It will try to force things into its own purview.

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Brain mind way soul and hope concept art, illustration, surreal mystery artwork, imagination painting, conceptual idea of success

An Ancient Argument for the Existence of the Human Soul

Sixteen hundred years ago, Augustine tells a friend about a dream a skeptical local doctor had, where a sharp youth asked him some pointed questions

One issue that arose in that age of controversy was how anything like a human mind could function without a body?

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Mind.

Consciousness and Free Will: JP Moreland’s Case for Dualism

He argues that dualism, the sense that we are souls as well as bodies, is the natural interpretation of our lived experience

Moreland contends thatthe dualist view isn’t an irrational leap of faith but a well-supported, philosophically robust position.

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Wooden Bubble speech and signs yes and no.

Science Dilemma: Bucking the Trend and Searching for Truth

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor tells host Allan CP about the risks scientists face if they say that human beings have souls

The discussion touched on many areas covered by the new book, The Immortal Mind, but one scientist’s dilemma stood out.

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Do Fungi Demonstrate a Form of Intelligence? What Does That Mean?

Yes, the natural world is full of intelligence and we are only scratching the surface of it. But…

Human intelligence is different. For one thing, we think about what we are thinking about — the ultimate abstract process because both elements are immaterial.

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Landscape and Sky at Sunset

Does Dementia Show That the Mind Is Simply What the Brain Does?

People with dementia have severe memory issues, along with motor, perception and emotional disabilities, and that curtails their powers of reason

But, while the mind generally depends on a healthy brain, sometimes lucidity can come surging back to a demented person briefly and unexpectedly.

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Doctor reviews brain scans

Burying Stories Is No Way to Advance Science

A story about a man with a severe brain defect who led an apparently normal life has been almost buried in efforts to explain it away

Michael Egnor and I wrote The Immortal Mind to show that the mind is not simply what the brain does and this story is but one example among many.

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Two Brains Connected By A Bridge Over Darkness In An Artistic Graphic Illustration

Neuroscientist Christof Koch proposes a bold brain experiment…

… worthy of science fiction — that he and his debate opponent, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor, could share a brain via Neuralink. And what would happen then?

Koch hoped that the “shared brain” experiment would demonstrate materialism. He may have been unprepared for Egnor’s response.

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Digital illustration of a brain split into blue and red hemispheres with a glowing connection.

Neuroscientist: Brain Surgery Can Create “Two Conscious Entities”

Dr. Egnor, who has done split-brain surgery himself, dismisses neuroscientist Christof Koch's claim

Egnor: Consciousness is not the kind of thing that can be split, and there’s no evidence that one person can ever become two people.

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Smiling Elderly Homeless Man Enjoying Free Coffee and Conversation with Friends in a Soup Kitchen, a Moment of Joy and Community Support Captured.

The Soul and Human Dignity: A Conversation with J.P. Moreland

In his view, only a view that affirms an intrinsic, shared human nature can sustain a belief in universal human dignity

Far from being outdated, the soul remains a vital concept for any worldview that takes seriously the realities of consciousness, freedom, and human equality.

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Lighting 3d infinity symbol. Beautiful glowing signs..Sparkling rings. Swirl icon on black background..Luminous trail effect. Colorful isolated sparkling loop.

Catholic Bookworm features The Immortal Mind

Michael Egnor stressed the importance of communicating reflections on the findings of neuroscience in a way that is accessible to the public

A radio version of the program is also available for download at iHeart.

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Concept art of nature freedom dream success brain and hope , ambition idea artwork, surreal painting man with happiness of landscape nature in a door , conceptual illustration

Mind: Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor vs. Neuroscientist Christof Koch

Released yesterday evening, the debate, hosted by science writer and broadcaster Michael Shermer, was cordial, and quite relatable

At one point, the discussion turned on the case of a girl who had her sense of guilt removed surgically. What does that prove about the mind and the brain?

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Emerald Globe Thriving Tree at Earths Core Symbolizing Interconnected Nature and Humanity in an

Philosopher Asks at Nautilus, Is Matter Conscious?

To say that consciousness is real is to say that the immaterial world is, in principle, real. That is a very big admission for neuroscience to make. But the alternative is the void.

The growth of panpsychism is likely to change the nature of the science problems that are considered hard. But we shall see.

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Burning gas, a star in perpetual flames.

Immortality of the Soul Is a Reasonable Belief 

Some may think that immortality of the rational soul is not possible in the physical world in which we live. But they are mistaken

Nothing in this universe simply dissipates; it is always transformed. The immaterial world is similar.

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Nature Within.

Science Writer: The Self Is Part of a Conscious Universe

Annaka Harris seems to be fleeing eliminative materialism — the snake that eats its own tail

Harris is the wife of well-known New Atheist neuroscientist Sam Harris, at one time one of the Four Horsemen of the New Atheist apocalypse.

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Omega, the letter of a Greek alphabet. Greek numerals, mathematical eight hundred number concept. Abstract, digital, wireframe, low poly mesh, Raster blue neon 3d illustration. Triangle, line dot

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 possible

In 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 ›

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A man practicing mindfulness and meditation or yoga in a peaceful natural environment realistic image, ultra hd, high design very detailed

A Physicist Ponders the Nature of Consciousness

Ethan Siegel fears that we abandon science when we think that consciousness is not a material thing

If science, as interpreted by some, can’t address immaterial realities like our ability to reason and thus do science, so much the worse for that interpretation

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The beam of light in the path of the magic forest

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

Should a neuroscience approach to terminal lucidity merely mean reassuring the world that someday we will prove that it is just random brain noise?

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Cityscape of the Flatiron Building (New York City)

How Can We Conceive of Perfection When We Never Experience It?

Here’s a challenge to the materialist theory that every mental state is a brain state: How can a perfect thought be an imperfect brain state?

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Abstract numbers background - big data concept.

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

A question for materialists: How can infinite states of my intellect be generated by finite states of my brain?

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