Qualia Taste Test
I found that Keith Frankish's paper Quining Diet Qualia (PDF warning) was very helpful for understanding the Illusionist research program. In the paper, he lays out a few conceptions of…
Continue Reading
Qualia Taste Test
Kripke and Dualism
I wanted to write a bit about Saul Kripke because I figured there are many people who have encountered him through linguistics and logic, but are unfamiliar with how his…
Continue Reading
Kripke and Dualism
The Moral Argument
I mentioned recently that I just read Justin Brierley's book on apologetics. In that post, I talked about Lewis's trilemma and how it presents a false choice. I want to…
Continue Reading
The Moral Argument
Conceivability Arguments
I was recently listening to this great discussion on consciousness between Philip Goff and Richard Brown, and when they got to a discussion of conceivability arguments (e.g. zombie conceivability), Goff…
Continue Reading
Conceivability Arguments
A.I., Common Sense, and Thinking
On the question of "Can computers think?", I've had a few posts focusing on the Chinese Room argument. In a nutshell, it's an argument against strong A.I. and the claim…
Continue Reading
A.I., Common Sense, and Thinking
Brierley on Lewis’s Trilemma
I recently finished Justin Brierley's book Unbelievable?: Why After Ten Years of Talking With Atheists, I'm Still a Christian, a book of Christian apologetics. It's well-written and I recommend it…
Continue Reading
Brierley on Lewis’s Trilemma
Illusionism and Bad Intuitions
I've posted about illusionism a couple of times, e.g. here and here. In this post, I want to discuss the frequent claim by illusionists that they are just "rejecting bad…
Continue Reading
Illusionism and Bad Intuitions
Modes of Being: Peirce and Davidson
I really enjoyed this podcast discussion between Cathy Legg and Matt Teichman. The topic is C.S. Peirce, and particularly his theory of categories, or modes of being. As Legg and…
Continue Reading
Modes of Being: Peirce and Davidson
Libet and Free Will
The Atlantic has an article on free will and Libet's experiments that has been getting a lot of attention the past few days. It is actually discussing work from several…
Continue Reading
Libet and Free Will
Does Materialism Need an External Agent?
I posted yesterday on the question of whether idealism requires an external agent, a claim made by the philosopher Stathis Psillos. The discussion on Twitter continued today. His comments didn't…
Continue Reading
Does Materialism Need an External Agent?