Category: Philosophy

The difference between life and machine

Addy Pross has an interesting post up at HuffPost looking at what actually makes life...life. Most of us recognize that there is a fundamental difference between mechanical objects designed and created by man, no matter how sophisticated, and the naturally derived complexity of living things. In fact, my granddaughter, when she was just 2, already … Continue reading The difference between life and machine →

The phrase “is an illusion” is overused

The March 6 episode of the Inquiring Minds podcast interviewed Jennifer Oullette to talk about her latest book, 'Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self '.  During the interview, Chris Mooney asked her if the self is an illusion.  I was impressed that Oullette downplayed the phrase.  The self is not what … Continue reading The phrase “is an illusion” is overused →

Free will and the value of compatibilism

With the essays traded between Daniel Dennett and Sam Harris, free will is back in the web conversation.  I wasn't planning on making another free will post myself, having been mostly satisfied with my previous statement on it.  But I've had a few conversations lately, both here on the site and in some other mediums, that … Continue reading Free will and the value of compatibilism →

The scope of objective facts and morality

Our recent discussions, particularly on the thread about Jonathan Haidt's response to Sam Harris's challenge, left me thinking about the various scopes of objective facts.  In retrospect, it's a bit obvious to me now that a key question in moral philosophy is, if morality is objective, at what scope is it objective? Haidt used the … Continue reading The scope of objective facts and morality →

Moral values aren’t absolute, but aren’t arbitrary either

I'm working on another post with details about foundational moral instincts, but after some discussion on the 'Morality arises from instincts' post, I realized that I failed to make a couple of things clear.  So, I'm inserting this additional post to do that. First, let me clarify that, in these posts, I'm being descriptive, not … Continue reading Moral values aren’t absolute, but aren’t arbitrary either →

Philosophy that ignores science risks impotence

Peter Hankins has a post up reviewing Harold Langsam's new book, 'The Wonder of Consciousness'.  While the book sounds interesting (Hankins describes it as philosophically dense, so I probably won't read it), something bothered me while reading Hankins's review. It was the idea that we can determine things about the world without looking at it, … Continue reading Philosophy that ignores science risks impotence →

Is the United States conscious?

I saw this interesting post by Eric Schwitzgebel on whether or not regarding the US as a conscious entity is compatible with materialism.  In the post, he examines an objection by David Chalmers, which is interesting, but not something that particularly resonates with me, seeming like a just so rational to a pre-intuited conclusion.  Eric also … Continue reading Is the United States conscious? →