Philosophy Now Forum

...Alexa is as unaware of meaning as my ratchet screwdriver. Exactly. There is absolutely nothing present within the computer processes (software) called “Alexa” that is capable of being “aware” of anything. Indeed, when someone speaks to Alexa and it responds by performing a task (such as turning ...

Or at least this is what I've been told. So what makes this 'nondualism' not a form of Monism as categorised in Philosophy? The problem with nondualism is not that it may be true at some foundational level,... (I’m thinking of Spinoza’s oneness substance) ...but that those who promote it (such as t...

Now, granted, it may not be a formally presented process that some preeminent neurologist might sign-off on, but surely we can all agree that at least what “appears” to be going on between brains and consciousness is something that the word “emergence” seems to fittingly describe. Yes? No? Maybe? I...

...Descartes was absolutely on the money when he said: There is nothing so strange and so unbelievable that it has not been said by one philosopher or another. Sounds a little like one of your other favorite “go to” quotes: “Nothing is too ridiculous to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of...

And yet even though consciousness will never be found in any list of brain components, it nevertheless not only makes an appearance once those components are arranged in just the right way, but it also presents itself as being the only reason for the existence of the brain in the first place. Every...

That’s easy for an idealist to handle. Well seeds, me old china, everything is easy for anyone who has all the answers. Now, now, uwot (me old bean) there’s no need to be rude. We’re all just having a little fun here, sharing our delusions and flawed blatherings in this online virtual nuthouse. Bes...

Now, as I said earlier, if you can think of a better word than “emergence” to describe that specific process, then let’s hear it. To be fair, it would help if there was a specific process. I’ve been describing it. The “process” is the awakening... (the coming into being/the arising/the emergence/et...

uwot wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 29, 2019 4:31 pm

Skepdick wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 29, 2019 4:26 pm

.Noumena cause phenomena.

Probably. But try telling an idealist.

That’s easy for an idealist to handle.

The idealist would simply state that mind is the arena (the living “emulsion,” so to speak) in which noumena and phenomena are suspended and perform their dance.
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We know the properties of matter which we assume there is no such thing as consciousness among them.... ....The properties of matter are simply, mass, charge, spin, etc. The relation between these properties is mathematical, laws of physics, and it is exhaustive meaning that you cannot possibly hav...

I use "the premise" to show that there is no emergence, the premise being "everything has an explanation". Let me know if you have a problem with the premise. Why would the fact that a particular process has an “explanation,” have any bearing on the terminology we use to describe the workings and o...

In other words, where’s the epiphenomenal correlation between the objectively-based “gears” of the engine and that of the subjectively-based “behavior” of a self-aware entity/agent (the “dreamer”) that seems to exist within the inner context of its own autonomous dimension of reality that we call a...

...I cannot help but wonder that if a perfect replication of the human brain could be constructed from computer parts, then perhaps the living essence within those parts* could somehow be drawn-forth and triggered (awakened) into a state of self-awareness... *(Again, assuming that “hylozoism” is a ...

...a computer isn't a thinking machine. Its an elaborate ratchet screwdriver. That would be clearer if it looked something like this: https://static.electronicsweekly.com/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2008/04/itemid-52208-getasset.jpg Exactly right, PTH. However, as an idealist who believes that...

“...nobody knew that global warming could be so complicated...” That's precisely why so-called climate science is nothing more than an imprecise game of what-if, based on selective data (which is often corrupted)... Walker, are you also a “flat-earther,” by any chance? And by the way, my made-up qu...

I hope all the global-warming diniers are living really close to the sea. http://strangesounds.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/katrinahurricane.jpg Yes, and if it weren’t for the fact that so many innocent Floridians would be hurt, one could get a kick out of seeing the highest rooftop of Mar-a-Lago...