Philosophy Now Forum

Quite so. So we can describe the origins of the "cake" by both ingredients and by the dynamics used to produce one. If that's the right analogy, then what is the "recipe" for consciousness? On your account, should that not be quite doable? I thought I had done so. The recipe for...

What we really need is proof -- some actual reason, not just a hopeful analogy, to buoy our confidence that all that stands between us and an answer to the riddle of emergent consciousness is the passage of a few years. Let's see some actual progression the question itself: HOW does unthinking matt...

Truth is that which is the 'actual' state of affairs! Many of you confuse the 'Topic' in question with, "how one comes to know the truth." What 'truth is' and 'how one comes to know it,' are two entirely different questions. Truth is actuality, the facts! This is just to list synonyms. Wh...

If logic is the foundations of mathematics then what are the foundations of logic? It can be argued that logic is intuitive, in the sense that it is the necessary foundation for all thought. That doesn't make it true, it is simply necessary for us to think in the way we do. We literally cannot thin...

What is meant by 'the same thing' ought not be an issue. Normal everyday usage works just fine. That focus is rather inconsequential to the argument. I disagree; if you think about it, there is no single 'normal everyday usage' because ' the same thing ' is never meant literally. If I said two thin...

Consider how much more still that AI, programmed with a portion of human intelligence, could achieve without any emotion or qualia. The problem is with the word 'achieve'. We don't agree what we want to achieve; what is the state of the world that we are aiming for? Any attempt to answer that quest...

Then I repeated my request for an explanation of what you meant by 'mental-content-only' and 'identical' in your question. So, whenever you're ready... You'd do better by focusing. So, do you use the term "mental" (or mind) at all? It is no good asking me what you mean! You used the phras...

You're looking to argue over how Frege used terms, because you believe that I'm getting that wrong and I believe that you are? Or are you looking to understand what I asked you? I'm asking because you're going off on a tangent here of arguing over how Frege used terms, which wasn't at all the point...

So you are asking me if the ' Bedeutung ' of 'mental-content-only' is the same as 'experience of pain' etc., as opposed to their sense or tone? No, the extension. Bedeutung IS sense or intension. Frege uses 'extension' when writing about mathematical foundations. Extension records those values that...

Let's start: What is meant by 'identical'? Identical--in the sense of "equals," or "the same as," with respect to extension, not (necessarily) intension. The morning star is identical to the evening star, or Hesperus = Phosphorus if you're familiar with Frege (or familiar with d...

To understand what I'm saying requires first arriving at what ought be obvious to us all. Do you acknowledge that thought/belief is not the same thing as thinking about thought/belief? It's not that difficult to understand, on my view. It's more like simple common sense. Thinking about thought/beli...

What's the reason that you'd exert the effort to type the above rather than just simply answering (again) the question I asked without needing to extend it to 200-300 words? You could have just said yes or no. Only in response to a meaningful question. Let's remind us of what it was. 'nerves' . . ....

How about returning then rather than giving a boring answer where you don't directly address a simple question. If you can't straightforwardly, directly answer a simple question there's no way we can tackle anything more complex. OK. Let's say that I have been completely baffled by your brilliant q...

Are those things identical to mental-content-only in your view? It is good to practice your serve, but if the other player never attempts a return it becomes boring. How about returning then rather than giving a boring answer where you don't directly address a simple question. If you can't straight...

As others have pointed out, plainly living things can have brain activity and live without words, so isn't the question more: 'C ould we think in the same way without words? Could we reason?' I do not see how we could do logic, or maths, because you need to be able to work in abstractions. You need ...