The Denial of Dennett’s Consciousness

[I’ve now reviewed this thread in reasonable detail and have some additional conclusions:] The Consciousness Deniers 13 March 2o18 – Galen Strawson Magic, Illusions, and Zombies Rebuttal – Undated – Dan Dennett With Reply 3 April 2018 – Galen Strawson I recall seeing the original consciousness deniers piece by Strawson, but not really taking it … Continue reading “The Denial of Dennett’s Consciousness”

“The Denial” of Consciousness

I’ve been referring to those that insist that our subjective conscious mind cannot be real, because – by definition – their objective science is unable to explain it, as deniers since I first wrote on Searle, back here in 2005. Since then I’ve been like a cracked record on consciousness denial. This week Galen Strawson … Continue reading ““The Denial” of Consciousness”

Searle in Denial ?

I’ve now read about 40% of Searle’s “Mind”. For most of the first third he is outlining Philosophy of Mind issues, mainly stemming from Descartes (and other disasters, as he puts it). He outlines the classic mind / matter problems, the standard refutations, and his arguments against the refutations and alternatives. I found myself screaming … Continue reading “Searle in Denial ?”

The Limits to Science?

Preamble? How do I come to be writing this post right now? See the Background “Postamble” at the bottom if necessary 😉 Straight Down to Business: [START] The Assertion – In one Sentence – There are limits to science in the sense that some aspects of the world are beyond science. (Or alternative prior statements … Continue reading “The Limits to Science?”

The Illusion of Dennett’s Illusion – Again.

That damn meme again. “Dennett denies consciousness”. No he doesn’t. (I already part reviewed Dennett’s memoir recently and added links to a few other sympathetic reviews which all naturally included summaries of his important works. Apart from one footnote of my own on a reconciliation of his physicalist determinist compatibilism with informational subjective pan-proto-psychism (*), … Continue reading “The Illusion of Dennett’s Illusion – Again.”

Vive La Difference 2023

Mentioned in the previous post I’d been re-reading / re-viewing Dan Dennett content since, as ever, I found myself defending what he really believes about human consciousness against those that dismiss him as some kind of illusionist, compatibilist, denialist. He’s actually an evolutionary systems-thinking realist like the best of us. There’s some determination amongst popular … Continue reading “Vive La Difference 2023”

Zero to Pirsig

This is a 2023 Annotation of a 2005 paper prepared originally for the Liverpool Conference on Robert Pirsig and his Metaphysics of Quality (MoQ). The text is unchanged except for correcting a few obvious typos and formatting errors, and to keep me honest the original “It’s Evolutionary Psychology Stupid” remains here complete with old broken … Continue reading “Zero to Pirsig”

Under No Illusion

[UPDATED 21-Dec-2022] I’ve often referred to Dan Dennett as my “hero” when it comes to philosophy and as a consequence I find myself defending his ideas against those that quote the errors of his (1991) “Consciousness Explained”. Even I have dubbed that work “Consciousness (Not) Explained”. As it happens I’m always looking towards – seeking … Continue reading “Under No Illusion”