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
Tag: Philosophy
Reason is a tool of emotion
Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them. David Hume Reason, logic, is a tool. It is a means to an end. It is never an end unto itself, never the goal. It is the journey, not … Continue reading Reason is a tool of emotion
Belief in immortality hard-wired? Study examines development of children’s ‘prelife’ reasoning — ScienceDaily
By examining children's ideas about "prelife," the time before conception, researchers found results which suggest that our bias toward immortality is a part of human intuition that naturally emerges early in life. And the part of us that is eternal, we believe, is not our skills or ability to reason, but rather our hopes, desires … Continue reading Belief in immortality hard-wired? Study examines development of children’s ‘prelife’ reasoning — ScienceDaily
Daniel Dennett on free will
Daniel Dennett has written a long paper on free will, specifically taking on Sam Harris' book on the subject. Dennett is a compatiblist and uses arguments similar to the ones I used in describing this position and in the limitations of determinism. Harris is aware of Dennett's paper... https://twitter.com/SamHarrisOrg/status/427472770025283585 ...so I'd think we'll see a … Continue reading Daniel Dennett on free will
Rationally Speaking: Is information physical? And what does that mean?
I’ve been reading for a while now Jim Baggott’s Farewell to Reality: How Modern Physics Has Betrayed the Search for Scientific Truth, a fascinating tour through cutting edge theoretical physics, led by someone with a physics background and a healthy (I think) dose of skepticism about the latest declarations from string theorists and the like. … Continue reading Rationally Speaking: Is information physical? And what does that mean?
Is this life real or a simulation? – Matthew R Francis – Aeon
Our species is not going to last forever. One way or another, humanity will vanish from the Universe, but before it does, it might summon together sufficient computing power to emulate human experience, in all of its rich detail. Some philosophers and physicists have begun to wonder if we’re already there. Maybe we are in … Continue reading Is this life real or a simulation? – Matthew R Francis – Aeon
A Dialog with a Madman – Existential Comics
Came across this awesome philosophical comic site with some pretty profound contemplations. I found this particular entry relevant to our recent discussions. Click through to see the whole thing. via A Dialog with a Madman - Existential Comics. h/t Conscious Entities
Falsifiability is useful, but a matter of judgment
Our discussions last week on Jim Baggott's book, 'Farewell to Reality', and Sean Carroll's Edge response, left me pondering falsifiability, the idea that theories should be falsifiable in order to be considered science. Falsifiability is a criteria identified by the philosopher Karl Popper. Popper was arguing against a conception held at the time by logical … Continue reading Falsifiability is useful, but a matter of judgment
SMBC: Momentary molecular arrangements
Today's Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal is too relevant to this blog's conversations for me to pass up calling your attention to it. Click through to see the full size version. via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.
Do we all do science?
Massimo Pigluici has a cartoon response up on Rationally Speaking in reply to Sam Harris' Edge response. Harris thinks that science is defined too narrowly, is suspicious of talk of the limits of science, and sees the distinction between science, philosophy, and history as illusory. Massimo sees this as too broad. I may be missing … Continue reading Do we all do science?
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