Integrating Personal Identity Into Scientific Discovery and Reasoning
The scientific method has undoubtedly provided great insight into the impersonal mechanics of the world around us throughout human history. However, the scientific method itself is put into practice by very personal human beings. How should our understanding of ourselves and our personal identities interact with what we learn through science? Today, hosts Robert J. Marks and Angus Menuge speak to Jonathan Loose about the chapter he contributed to Minding the Brain. Loose examines the relationship between the scientific method and personal identity. He argues that respect for science should lead us to consider all the evidence, including first-person conscious experience, rather than just third-person observable phenomena. Loose contends that the success of the scientific method has led some to erroneously conclude that all of reality must be physical, when in fact conscious experience is also a crucial part of reality that must be accounted for.
Additional Resources
- Minding the Brain: Models of the Mind, Information, and Empirical Science
- The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism: Jonathan J Loose, Angus J L Menuge, J P Moreland (Editors)
