^TagNaturalism

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 22, 2024

Categorized
Philosophy

Tagged
Matter, mind, Minding the Brain, Naturalism, Philosophy, Robert J. Marks}

Doesn’t Methodological Naturalism Refute Itself?

_{Listen to the new podcast episode discussing this question} _{News

March 22, 2024

1

Philosophy}

Get caught up with the Mind Matters podcast by listening to this special episode featuring hosts Angus Menuge and Robert J. Marks and their guest, Dr. Robert Larmer. Dr. Larmer wrote a fascinating chapter in last year’s groundbreaking book Minding the Brain, and sat down with Mind Matters to discuss the limits of “methodological naturalism.” For Larmer, this approach to getting knowledge is limited because it rules out non-physical causes, even if they exist. In addition, holding to naturalism at all costs can undermine our self-understanding as rational agents. How can we trust our brains? Does the physical activity in our brains correlate with non-physical mental states? Find out more by listening to Part One of the conversation here. Be Read More ›

Illustration of synapse and neuron on a blue background.

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 14, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Anil Ananthaswamy, Consciousness, Daniel Dennett, David Chalmers, Dualism, Idealism, Integrated Information Theory (IIT), Kevin McQueen, Materialism, Michael Graziano, Naturalism, Orch OR, Orchestrated objective reduction (Orch OR) theory, Panpsychism, Quantum Collapse}

Will We Soon Be Able to Test Theories of Consciousness?

_{Proponents of two leading theories of consciousness are trying to develop tests for their models, in a hitherto baffling field} _{Denyse O'Leary

July 14, 2021

7

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Science journalist and author Anil Ananthaswamy has written a thoughtful piece at New Scientist on the leading models of consciousness and their relationship to quantum mechanics (quantum physics). Are we reaching the point where we can test at least one of them? Ananthaswamy is well qualified to assess the arguments. He is the author of both Through Two Doors at Once (2018) on quantum physics and The Man Who Wasn’t There (2015) on the nature of the self. Models of consciousness that assume that “consciousness isn’t separate from the material reality that physics explains” (materialist or naturalist theories) fall into three general classes, as he explains. Analysts like Tufts philosopher Daniel Dennett and Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano argue that consciousness Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 5, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Consciousness, David Papineau, Dualism, Michael Egnor, Naturalism, Physicalism}

Round 2: Philosopher Papineau Replies to Neurosurgeon Egnor

_{Dr. Papineau is considered to be one of the best defenders of naturalism (nature is all there is), often called “materialism.”} _{News

July 5, 2021

12

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Yesterday, we published a portion of the transcript of the debate between materialist philosopher David Papineau amd neurosurgeon Michael Egnor, in which Egnor explains how, despite early atheism, the practice of medicine led him to believe that there is a God and that the mind is not simply what the brain does. He offered three reasons. Today, here’s a transcript of David Papineau’s reply. Starts, roughly, at 9:00 min: Note: Dr. Papineau is a “physicalist,” a form of materialism according to which “the mind is a purely physical construct, and will eventually be explained entirely by physical theory, as it continues to evolve.” (Philosophy basics) He is considered to be one of the best defenders of naturalism (nature is all Read More ›

Paint can and brush on red background, top view

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 19, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Access consciousness, Angus Menuge, Blindsight, Colors (invisible to human spectrum), Featured, Frank Jackson, Lynne Baker, Mary's room (thought experiment), Naturalism, Ned Block, phenomenal consciousness, qualia, Robert J. Marks}

Angus Menuge Explains Why “Red” Is Such a Problem in Philosophy

_{“Red” is an example of qualia, concepts we can experience that have no physical existence otherwise} _{News

May 19, 2021

10

Philosophy of Mind}

In philosopher Angus Menuge‘s second podcast with Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks, the big topic is the perennial Hard Problem of consciousness and various proposed solutions. Menuge, who is chair of philosophy at Concordia University, talks about some of the ways consciousness is hard to pin down and why it doesn’t follow the rules we might expect in a fully material universe: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-134-Angus-Menuge.mp3 This portion begins at 01:01 min. A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Robert J. Marks (pictured): There is a lot of research happening in modeling consciousness. Panpsychism, quantum consciousness, and integrated information theory (IIT) are examples of consciousness models that have been getting a lot of press and visibility lately… So first, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 4, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Information Theory, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
brain, Genomics, Manuel Brenner, Materialism, Naturalism, Neocortex, neuroplasticity, Ray Kurzweil}

A Neuroscientist on Why We Can Build Human-like Brains

_{Manuel Brenner, a particle physicist as well as a neuroscientist, thinks pattern recognition is the answer} _{News

November 4, 2020

6

Artificial Intelligence, Information Theory, Philosophy of Mind}

Manuel Brenner, a particle physicist who became a theoretical neuroscientist, made the argument last year that human intelligence is less complex than we make it out to be. Thus, building an artificial intelligence might be easier than we suppose. He offers some intriguing arguments and here are some responses: ➤ Is the information we need for building human-like AI in our genes? He doesn’t think so because a tomato has 7000 more genes than a human being. Further, our human genome offers only 25 million bytes of information for our brain’s design but there are 1015 connections in the adult neocortex. His conclusion? “there needs to be a much simpler, more efficient way of defining the blueprint for our brain Read More ›

Cell abstract concept. Microorganisms under microscope

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 2, 2020

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Cell (biology), Daniel Dennett, Darwinism, Michael Levin, mind, Naturalism}

Are Our Minds Just an Extension of the Minds of Our Cells?

_{A prominent philosopher and a well-known biologist make the case, offering an illustration} _{News

November 2, 2020

6

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Naturalism, the idea that physical nature is all there is, can lead us down some strange paths. In the words of prominent philosopher Daniel Dennett and prominent biologist Michael Levin, both of Tufts University, the road to “biology’s next great horizon” is the attempt to “understand cells, tissues and organisms as agents with agendas (even if unthinking ones).” They think that the principle of natural selection acting on random mutations can create everything, including minds: Thanks to Charles Darwin, biology doesn’t ever have to invoke an ‘intelligent designer’ who created all those mechanisms. Evolution by natural selection has done – and is still doing – all that refining and focusing and differentiating work. We’re all just physical mechanisms made of Read More ›

Liquid Nitrogen bank containing suspension of stem cells. Cell culture for the biomedical diagnostic

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
November 1, 2020

Categorized
Ethics, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
brain, Brain organoids, Brains in a dish, Consciousness, Curt Siodmak, Featured, Materialism, mind, Naturalism, Orson Wells, Sentience}

Can We Make Brains in a Dish? Can We Make MINDS in a Dish?

_{Experiments with brain organoids have left many wondering whether we should be concerned about creating brains-in-a-dish} _{Heather Zeiger

November 1, 2020

8

Ethics, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

In a recent report, Nature addressed several studies on disembodied brains grown in the lab. One of those studies, published last year by Alysson Muotri of the University of California, San Diego, showed that brain organoids (organized clusters of brain cells) displayed electrical signals reminiscent of a twenty-five-week-old pre-term baby. the electrical activity continued for several months until the experiment was eventually stopped. Experiments with such brain organoids have left many wondering whether we should be concerned about creating brains-in-a-dish. Organoids, such as those made of kidney or liver cells, have been used to study drug development and disease. They are made either from embryonic stem cells—an ethically problematic source because they involve the destruction of an embryo—or induced pluripotent Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 25, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy (book), Igor Grossman, Jesus, Naturalism, Odin, Toronto Wisdom Task Force, Wisdom, Wisdom and Culture Lab}

Why Wisdom Is Not and Cannot Be a “Science”

_{Some have tried to make the pursuit of wisdom a “scientific” endeavour. That is not going well.} _{Denyse O'Leary

October 25, 2020

8

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

A curiosity of our age is the effort to “naturalize” traditional values, to treat them as an outcome of evolution. Evolution we are told, took us in a slightly different direction from that of the apes but it did not put us in contact with a wisdom beyond this world. There is no such thing. That conflicts with traditional accounts of wisdom. Wisdom has been seen as different from “knowledge,” “intelligence” or “street smarts.” They are all very useful, of course. But wisdom is a view of the world from a great distance, which enables clarity about the big issues. For example, from Boethius, about 1500 years ago: Indeed, the condition of human nature is just this; man towers above Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 20, 2020

Categorized
Ethics

Tagged
Audun Dahlis, children, free will, Moral choice, Naturalism, reason}

Psychologist: Children Use Reason, not Gut, for Moral Problems

_{Audun Dahlis thinks that the case against moral reasoning has begun to unravel} _{News

September 20, 2020

4

Ethics}

A psychology prof (pictured) at University of California, Santa Cruz offers us a surprising message about children: They do not rely merely on feelings, but rather reason, when making moral choices: For decades, research on children – unlike research on adults – has overwhelmingly concluded that participants do reason about moral issues. (Strangely, psychological research often portrays children more favourably than it does adults.) In one classic study from the 1980s, researchers interviewed six- to 10-year-old children in the United States. They asked about several fictional moral violations: for instance, a child who pushed another child off the top of a slide. When asked why pushing was wrong, children typically explained that it could hurt the victim. Accordingly, most children Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 3, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Religion

Tagged
Bernardo Kastrup, cosmopsychism, Featured, free will, George Berkeley (1685–1753), god, Idealism, Materialism, Michael Egnor, Naturalism, Objective idealism}

Does Physics Today Point to Mind Rather Than Matter Only?

_{A cosmopsychist looks at the universe, God, and free will} _{News

September 3, 2020

12

Philosophy of Mind, Religion}

In a recent podcast, “Does the Moon Exist if No One is Looking at It?”, Michael Egnor continued his discussion with philosopher and computer programmer Bernardo Kastrup. As a scientist, Kastrup has worked for The European Organization for Nuclear Research and for Phillips Research Laboratories, and has authored many academic papers and books. This week’s topic is the way physics today points to mind as opposed to materialism. Kastrup offers some thoughts on God and free will as well, from his cosmopsychist (or objective idealist) position: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-095-Bernardo-Kastrup.mp3 From the transcript: (Other discussions in the series, Show Notes, Resources, and a link to the complete transcript follow.) Michael Egnor: You have said and written that physics points to the mind. What Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
May 24, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
__focus-north, Cosmological singularities, Featured, Kurt Gödel, Materialism, Naturalism, Res extensa, Steven Novella, Supernaturalism}

Is Materialism Falsifiable? Yes, Easily.

_{Neurologist Steven Novella is sure that materialism is not falsifiable by science} _{Michael Egnor

May 24, 2020

5

Philosophy of Mind}

Contrary to Steven Novella's claims, cosmological singularities refute materialism. Kurt Gödel can explain

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
December 20, 2019

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Consciousness, Dualism, Massimo Pigliucci, Michael Egnor, Naturalism}

Yes, Consciousness Is Real But That’s Not the Half of It

_{Philosopher Massimo Pigliucci ends up skating deftly around the main problems} _{News

December 20, 2019

7

Philosophy of Mind}

Those who would understand immaterial realities like consciousness should not speak so disrespectfully of dualism as Dr. Pigliucci does.

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 18, 2019

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
DNA, Naturalism, Science Uprising (film series)}

There Is a Glitch in the Description of DNA as “Software”

_{In contemporary culture, we are asked to believe - in an impressive break with observed reality - that the code wrote itself} _{Denyse O'Leary

June 18, 2019

4

Philosophy of Mind}

Mainstream studies are funded in order to find out why much of the public doubts a materialist account of our origins. Despite the immense implausibility of that account, in the light of evidence, studies are not funded in order to find out why anyone does believe it. Why is that?

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
May 22, 2019

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Animal Minds, Irrationality (book), Justin E.H. Smith, Michael Egnor, Naturalism}

Philosopher Argues, Human Reason Is Inferior to Animal Reactions

_{Smith offers to resolve the problem of human exceptionality by dethroning reason} _{Denyse O'Leary

May 22, 2019

6

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

He hopes that artificial intelligence and extraterrestrial life (a “statistical near-certainty”) will help us “give up the idea of rationality as nature’s last remaining exception.”