Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
Can we in principle ever deduce the mental from the physical? Christopher Devlin Brown and David Papineau have a new paper out in the Journal of Consciousness Studies titled: Illusionism and A Posteriori Physicalism; No Fact of the Matter. (Note: the link is to a free version.) As the title makes clear, the overall gist … Continue reading Illusionism and types of physicalism
In the last post, I pondered what distinction between the physical and non-physical, noting that I've historically resisted the label of "physicalist" or "materialist" maintaining that, if any evidence for the non-physical ever did become available, I'd accept its existence. I finished my post asking what that evidence might look like? And if even asking … Continue reading What would evidence for the non-physical look like? A possible answer.
One label that often gets applied to me is "materialist", or sometimes "physicalist." It's a label that, while it probably gives an accurate idea of my conception of reality, I've generally resisted. Why? Because if there were ever any evidence for anything non-physical, I would accept its existence. Consequently, I've often felt that a better label … Continue reading What is physicalism?
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