tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3431615444110003957.post3608009677553061380..comments2023-06-23T11:12:43.205-03:00Comments on Contemplating Reality for the 21st Century: Materialist MetaphysicsAndy Karrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17143574199653932191noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3431615444110003957.post-40622105794726384382008-02-08T19:39:00.000-04:002008-02-08T19:39:00.000-04:00I think it was Varela who noted that most Western ...I think it was Varela who noted that most Western science and philosophy has a blind spot: first-person experience, how to approach/experience it, how to describe it. One exception is phenomenology, which does attempt to pay attention to the bare structures of consciousness, and which in this regard has a meeting point with buddhadharma.<BR/><BR/>Many discussions of this topic seem to actually Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3431615444110003957.post-63094508900707461612008-02-01T14:41:00.000-04:002008-02-01T14:41:00.000-04:00Thank you Bob and David for this really interestin...Thank you Bob and David for this really interesting discussion. You both make good points.<BR/><BR/>Following up on some of these comments, I would note that mind and matter are imputed in dependence upon each other. That is, neither truly exists.<BR/><BR/>Conventionally, we can say that mental phenomena arise in dependence on both mental and physical phenomena. With the growing scientific Andy Karrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17143574199653932191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3431615444110003957.post-24748880387164870982008-01-31T10:33:00.000-04:002008-01-31T10:33:00.000-04:00Dr Bob, you raise issues that go beyond my underst...Dr Bob, you raise issues that go beyond my understanding. In statistics, I am told that a significant relationship or correspondence between two variables does not imply causality. The whole question of causality seems to assume that there are two apparently different ‘entities’ or ‘mechanisms’ that influence one another, as opposed to there being only one, as you suggest. I hope Mr. Karr can David Whitehornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997743073243464634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3431615444110003957.post-43636547893654799452008-01-31T01:02:00.000-04:002008-01-31T01:02:00.000-04:00So, Dr. David, can you tell me: concerning the evi...So, Dr. David, can you tell me: concerning the evidence that the correlations between brain "states" and mental "mind" subjective experience are causal. By that I mean that if we jab this part of the brain we experience the smell of burnt toast; if we zap that part we have a memory of our first kiss; or the other part we experience blue, feel sad, feel happy, etc.? By the same token, if we Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3431615444110003957.post-30454756093797409762008-01-30T12:08:00.000-04:002008-01-30T12:08:00.000-04:00Materialistic Metaphysics.“You, your joys and your...Materialistic Metaphysics.<BR/><BR/>“You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.” – Dr. Francis Crick<BR/><BR/>Andy…thanks for bringing up this interesting issue. It’s something I have struggled with since my early training David Whitehornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997743073243464634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3431615444110003957.post-4575602545324363542008-01-28T09:33:00.000-04:002008-01-28T09:33:00.000-04:00Thanks for the update on the Western philosophical...Thanks for the update on the Western philosophical understanding of consciousness. I pick B.<BR/><BR/>—Just kidding! The basic point of my post is that dismissing the mind as a manifestation of the brain has no scientific basis. It is a metaphysical assumption that ignores the essential feature of mind, its <I>knowing quality,</I> or <I>subjectivity,</I> which science has found no way to address Andy Karrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17143574199653932191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3431615444110003957.post-71378641484487422102008-01-27T11:16:00.000-04:002008-01-27T11:16:00.000-04:00Materialist MetaphysicsIn Western philosophy, the ...Materialist Metaphysics<BR/><BR/>In Western philosophy, the problem of understanding consciousness, and the relationship between the brain and mind--and understanding if they are different, identical, etc., i.e., defining what mind is--is called "The Hard Problem." And it is not called that for nothin'.<BR/><BR/>There is dualism or not, and a material world or not. <BR/><BR/>A. If there is no Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com