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Galen Strawson, Selves. an Essay in Revisionary Metaphysics
Review: Galen Strawson, Selves. An Essay in Revisionary Metaphysics Ludwig Gierstl & Ludwig J. Jaskolla In 1929, Alfred North Whitehead wrote that philosophy never reverts to its old position after the shock of a great philosopher1. It might be the case that Galen Strawson's Selves2 causes such a shock. Selves is a brilliant piece of philosophy synthesizing deep insights into nature of human experience with speculative force3. Although, the book can- not be said to be easily accessible, studying it is rewarding and can be recommended to almost any philosopher interested in Metaphysics or Philosophy of Mind. In the following paragraphs, we are going to give a systematic sketch of Strawson's main line of thought and his central arguments. Basically, Selves can be divided into two main parts: The rst part addresses the phenomenology of the self as understood in our everyday approach to the world, while the second part discusses the phenomenological ndings of the rst part in terms of metaphysics. Despite this two-fold structure, we emphasize that due to our understanding both parts are interrelated systematically and methodologically forming a coherent whole. 1 The Phenomenology of the Self As everybody familiar with the debate concerning personal identity knows, there is abundant literature discussing the typical phenomenolog- ical features of the self or in particular: the human self. This ordinary account of the varieties of experiences tied to the self is merely deriva- tively Strawson's target. He is mainly interested in the discussion of one particular phenomenon which he calls SELF-experience. This phe- nomenon is best characterized in contrast to other experiences: While I may have a stinging pain in my left arm which is so strong that it eects my whole experiential pattern, the fact that my self is in some way part of this experience is not SELF-experience. -
Arguing with God: a Rhetorical Analysis of 'The God Debates'
MPC MAJOR RESEARCH PAPER Arguing with God: A Rhetorical Analysis of ‘The God Debates’ VIN HENEY 500467928 Supervisor: Dr. Jean Mason The Major Research Paper is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Professional Communication Ryerson University Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 18, 2012 ARGUING WITH GOD ii ARGUING WITH GOD AUTHOR'S DECLARATION FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF A MAJOR RESEARCH PAPER I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this Major Research Paper and the accompanying Research Poster. This is a true copy of the MRP and the research poster, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I authorize Ryerson University to lend this major research paper and/or poster to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Ryerson University to reproduce this MRP and/or poster by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I understand that my MRP and/or my MRP research poster may be made electronically available to the public. iii ARGUING WITH GOD ABSTRACT Recently published pro-atheist Books By Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens have reignited the age-old debate aBout the existence of God. Many pro-faith Books have Been written in response. The deliberations Between theists and atheists have moved Beyond the written word and onto the PuBlic deBate Platform. The Present PaPer oBserves three such ‘God deBates’ through the theoretical lens of rhetoric. Using a modified grounded theory approach, and Borrowing from literature concerning PuBlic deBates and religious rhetoric, a number of rhetorical strategies are identified. -
A Contextual Examination of Three Historical Stages of Atheism and the Legality of an American Freedom from Religion
ABSTRACT Rejecting the Definitive: A Contextual Examination of Three Historical Stages of Atheism and the Legality of an American Freedom from Religion Ethan Gjerset Quillen, B.A., M.A., M.A. Mentor: T. Michael Parrish, Ph.D. The trouble with “definitions” is they leave no room for evolution. When a word is concretely defined, it is done so in a particular time and place. Contextual interpretations permit a better understanding of certain heavy words; Atheism as a prime example. In the post-modern world Atheism has become more accepted and popular, especially as a reaction to global terrorism. However, the current definition of Atheism is terribly inaccurate. It cannot be stated properly that pagan Atheism is the same as New Atheism. By interpreting the Atheisms from four stages in the term‟s history a clearer picture of its meaning will come out, hopefully alleviating the stereotypical biases weighed upon it. In the interpretation of the Atheisms from Pagan Antiquity, the Enlightenment, the New Atheist Movement, and the American Judicial and Civil Religious system, a defense of the theory of elastic contextual interpretations, rather than concrete definitions, shall be made. Rejecting the Definitive: A Contextual Examination of Three Historical Stages of Atheism and the Legality of an American Freedom from Religion by Ethan Gjerset Quillen, B.A., M.A. A Thesis Approved by the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies ___________________________________ Robyn L. Driskell, Ph.D., Interim Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by the Thesis Committee ___________________________________ T. -
Response to Daniel Dennett on Free Will Skepticism Derk Pereboom(Α)
RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI FILOSOFIA E PSICOLOGIA ISSN 2039-4667; E-ISSN 2239-2629 DOI: 10.4453/rifp.2017.0021 Vol. 8 (2017), n. 3, pp. 259-265 STUDI Response to Daniel Dennett on Free Will Skepticism Derk Pereboom(α) Ricevuto: 17 febbraio 2017; accettato: 24 agosto 2017 █ Abstract What is at stake in the debate between those, such as Sam Harris and me, who contend that we would lack free will on the supposition that we are causally determined agents, and those that defend the claim that we might then retain free will, such as Daniel Dennett? I agree with Dennett that on the suppo- sition of causal determination there would be robust ways in which we could shape, control, and cause our actions. But I deny that on this supposition we would have the control in action required for us to basical- ly deserve to be blamed, praised, punished or rewarded. In this response, I argue that this is the core issue that divides compatibilists and incompatiblists about free will and causal determination, and that the in- compatibilist position is the right one to accept. KEYWORDS: Sam Harris; Daniel Dennett; Free Will Skepticism; Compatibilism; Incompatibilism █ Riassunto Risposta a Daniel Dennett sullo scetticismo circa il libero arbitrio – Qual è la posta in gioco nel dibattito che vede contrapporsi chi – come Sam Harris e me – sostiene che non avremmo libertà di volere sulla scorta dell’ipotesi per cui siamo agenti causalmente determinati e chi, al contrario – come Daniel Den- nett – difende l’idea che possa darsi un libero volere? Concordo con Dennett circa il fatto che, anche nell’ipotesi della determinazione causale, resterebbe lo spazio per sostenere che per vari e importanti aspetti saremmo comunque noi a modellare, controllare e causare le nostre azioni. -
Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins Talk Ethics in Oxford Keeping Public
BHA news BHA news www.humanism.org.uk Issue 3 2011 Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other? — Attributed to George Eliot Keeping public services fair, inclusive, and secular The BHA is at the forefront of the to provide those services through its campaign to keep public services ‘Poppy Project’. The Salvation Army, an shared, inclusive, and secular. Since we evangelical organisation, has previously published our report and policy paper declared to parliament that it would on public service reform, Quality and be ‘impossible’ for it to be ‘religiously Equality: Human Rights, Public Services neutral’ in the provision of public and Religious Organisations (http:// services. The Salvation Army’s position tinyurl.com/Q-EReport) in 2007, we have statement on homosexuality also details been working hard for legal and policy homosexual behaviour as ‘self evidently changes to ensure that religious groups abnormal’ and condemns gay people to a cannot discriminate when they provide life of celibacy. public services. We’ve also been trying We believe that it is deeply to publicise the issues at stake, which, ones. In fact, many religious groups which concerning that the government has in light of more public services being wish to take on the delivery of public considered it appropriate to stop contracted to religious organisations, are services may be particularly conservative, contracting with an organisation specialist getting evermore serious for employees, evangelical, unrepresentative, or in working with victims of sexual service users, and the public alike. -
Psychological Arguments for Free Will DISSERTATION Presented In
Psychological Arguments for Free Will DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Andrew Kissel Graduate Program in Philosophy The Ohio State University 2017 Dissertation Committee: Richard Samuels, Advisor Declan Smithies Abraham Roth Copyrighted by Andrew Kissel 2017 Abstract It is a widespread platitude among many philosophers that, regardless of whether we actually have free will, it certainly appears to us that we are free. Among libertarian philosophers, this platitude is sometimes deployed in the context of psychological arguments for free will. These arguments are united under the idea that widespread claims of the form, “It appears to me that I am free,” on some understanding of appears, justify thinking that we are probably free in the libertarian sense. According to these kinds of arguments, the existence of free will is supposed to, in some sense, “fall out” of widely accessible psychological states. While there is a long history of thinking that widespread psychological states support libertarianism, the arguments are often lurking in the background rather than presented at face value. This dissertation consists of three free-standing papers, each of which is motivated by taking seriously psychological arguments for free will. The dissertation opens with an introduction that presents a framework for mapping extant psychological arguments for free will. In the first paper, I argue that psychological arguments relying on widespread belief in free will, combined with doxastic conservative principles, are likely to fail. In the second paper, I argue that psychological arguments involving an inference to the best explanation of widespread appearances of freedom put pressure on non-libertarians to provide an adequate alternative explanation. -
U Ottawa L'universite Canadienne Canada's University FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES 1^=1 FACULTY of GRADUATE and ET POSTOCTORALES U Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES
nm u Ottawa L'Universite canadienne Canada's university FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES 1^=1 FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTOCTORALES U Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES L'Universitc canadienne Canada's university Steven Tomlins M.A. (Religious Studies) _._„„__„„„._ Department of Religious Studies In Science we Trust: Dissecting the Chimera of New Atheism TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS Lori Beaman Peter Beyer Anne Vallely Gary W. Slater Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies IN SCIENCE WE TRUST: DISSECTING THE CHIMERA OF NEW ATHEISM Steven Tomlins Student Number: 5345726 Degree sought: Master of Arts, Religious Studies University of Ottawa Thesis Director: Lori G. Beaman © Steven Tomlins, Ottawa, Canada, 2010 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-73876-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-73876-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Nnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciaies ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. -
Free Will and Determinism Debate on the Philosophy Forum
Free Will and Determinism debate on the Philosophy Forum. 6/2004 All posts by John Donovan unless noted otherwise. The following link is an interesting and enjoyable interview with Daniel Dennett discussing the ideas in his latest book where he describes how "free will" in humans and physical "determinism" are entirely compatible notions if one goes beyond the traditional philosophical arguments and examines these issues from an evolutionary viewpoint. http://www.reason.com/0305/fe.rb.pulling.shtml A short excerpt: Reason: A response might be that you’re just positing a more complicated form of determinism. A bird may be more "determined" than we are, but we nevertheless are determined. Dennett: So what? Determinism is not a problem. What you want is freedom, and freedom and determinism are entirely compatible. In fact, we have more freedom if determinism is true than if it isn’t. Reason: Why? Dennett: Because if determinism is true, then there’s less randomness. There’s less unpredictability. To have freedom, you need the capacity to make reliable judgments about what’s going to happen next, so you can base your action on it. Imagine that you’ve got to cross a field and there’s lightning about. If it’s deterministic, then there’s some hope of knowing when the lightning’s going to strike. You can get information in advance, and then you can time your run. That’s much better than having to rely on a completely random process. If it’s random, you’re at the mercy of it. A more telling example is when people worry about genetic determinism, which they completely don’t understand. -
The Consciousness Deniers | by Galen Strawson | NYR Daily | the New York Review of Books 4/4/18, 12(56 PM
The Consciousness Deniers | by Galen Strawson | NYR Daily | The New York Review of Books 4/4/18, 12(56 PM The Consciousness Deniers Galen Strawson What is the silliest claim ever made? The competition is fierce, but I think the answer is easy. Some people have denied the existence of consciousness: conscious experience, the subjective character of experience, the “what-it-is-like” of experience. Next to this denial—I’ll call it “the Denial”—every known religious belief is only a little less sensible than the belief that grass is green. The Denial began in the twentieth century and continues today in a few pockets of philosophy and psychology and, now, information technology. It had two main causes: the rise of the behaviorist approach in psychology, and the naturalistic approach in philosophy. These were good things in their way, but they spiraled out of control and gave birth to the Great Silliness. I want to consider these Courtesy the artist and Galerie Buchholz/The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY main causes first, and then say something rather gloomy Lucy McKenzie: Untitled, 2002 about a third, deeper, darker cause. But before that, I need to comment on what is being denied—consciousness, conscious experience, experience for short. What is it? Anyone who has ever seen or heard or smelled anything knows what it is; anyone who has ever been in pain, or felt hungry or hot or cold or remorseful, dismayed, uncertain, or sleepy, or has suddenly remembered a missed appointment. All these things involve what are sometimes called “qualia”—that is to say, different types or qualities of conscious experience. -
Mystical Experiences, Neuroscience, and the Nature of Real…
MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES, NEUROSCIENCE, AND THE NATURE OF REALITY Jonathan Scott Miller A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2007 Committee: Marvin Belzer, Advisor Kenneth I. Pargament Graduate Faculty Representative Michael Bradie Sara Worley ii © 2007 Jonathan Miller All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Marvin Belzer, Advisor Research by neuroscientists has begun to clarify some of the types of brain activity associated with mystical experiences. Neuroscientists disagree about the implications of their research for mystics’ beliefs about the nature of reality, however. Persinger, Alper, and other scientific materialists believe that their research effectively disproves mystics’ interpretations of their experiences, while Newberg, Hood, and others believe that scientific models of mystical experiences leave room for God or some other transcendent reality. I argue that Persinger and Alper are correct in dismissing mystics’ interpretations of their experiences, but that they are incorrect in asserting mystical experiences are pathological or otherwise undesirable. iv To Betty, who knows from experience. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special thanks are due to all the members of my committee, for their extreme patience, both when I was floundering about in search of a topic, and when my work had slowed to a trickle after an unexpected and prolonged illness. I feel especially fortunate at having been able to assemble a committee in which each of the members was truly indispensable. Thanks to Ken Pargament for his world-class expertise in the psychology of religion, to Mike Bradie and Sara Worley for their help with countless philosophical and stylistic issues, and to Marv Belzer, for inspiring the project in the first place, and for guiding me through the intellectual wilderness which I had recklessly entered! vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. -
The Elusive Origins of Consciousness: a Philosophical Argument for Panpsychism Over Competing Metaphysical Theories of Mind
Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Trinity Publications (Newspapers, Yearbooks, The Trinity Papers (2011 - present) Catalogs, etc.) 2019 The Elusive Origins of Consciousness: A Philosophical Argument for Panpsychism over Competing Metaphysical Theories of Mind Tommy Tobias Aahlberg Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/trinitypapers Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Aahlberg, Tommy Tobias, "The Elusive Origins of Consciousness: A Philosophical Argument for Panpsychism over Competing Metaphysical Theories of Mind". The Trinity Papers (2011 - present) (2019). Trinity College Digital Repository, Hartford, CT. https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/trinitypapers/79 The Elusive Origins of Consciousness: A Philosophical Argument for Panpsychism over Competing Metaphysical Theories of Mind Tommy Tobias Aahlberg Introduction Underpinning everything that constitutes our perceived reality is consciousness. The fact that there is something that it is like to be us is at the foundation of everything we consequently come to care about in our lives. Every observation, sensation, thought, and emotion is predicated on the phenomenon that there is something that it is like to observe, sense, think, and feel. The awareness and experience of a world is the essential factor that separates our universe from any conceivable zombie universe where nothing is observed, sensed, thought, or felt. Necessarily, we filter every single moment through our consciousness. If consciousness did not exist there would be no groundwork for meaning as it would hold no basis in any conceivable creature’s awareness, and therefore such a universe would be meaningless. Despite, or perhaps due to, its fundamental nature and important implications – consciousness is poorly understood by contemporary science and philosophy alike, at least in the theoretical sense of understanding. -
Naturalism Nagel and Theism.Docx
Nagel, Naturalism and Theism Todd Moody (Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia) In his recent controversial book, Mind and Cosmos, Thomas Nagel writes: Many materialist naturalists would not describe their view as reductionist. But to those who doubt the adequacy of such a world view, the different attempts to accommodate within it mind and related phenomena all appear as attempts to reduce the true extent of reality to a common basis that is not rich enough for the purpose. Hence the resistance can be brought together as antireductionism.1 I want to discuss the italicized phrases and their implications. First, the term “materialist naturalist” calls for comment. Materialism is understood to be the ontological thesis that material things, or perhaps physical things and physical properties, are the only things there are. What does “naturalist” add to this? Nagel explains: I will use the terms “materialism” or “materialist naturalism” to refer to one side of this conflict and “antireductionism” to refer to the other side, even though the terms are rather rough.2 Elsewhere he adds, [T]here is ultimately one way that the natural order is intelligible, namely, through physical law—law—everything that exists and everything that happens can in principle be explained by the laws that govern the physical universe.3 What “naturalism” adds to materialism is the thesis that all that happens in the physical realm is “explained”, i.e., described by “mathematically stateable” laws.4 So much for “materialist naturalist.” Turning to the second italicized passage, we see that Nagel believes that this project has failed and must fail.