Substance Dualism (Part 2 of 2) [HD]

NB Whilst claims of logical possibility intended to support reality claims (such as Swinburne's proposal of disembodied existence) become subject to constraints of reality, those not intended to support any reality claim need not be subject to such constraints.

Selected Resources (see also part 1):

Churchland, P - Brain-Wise: Studies in Neurophilosophy (2002)

Swinburne, R - Evolution of the soul (1986)
Swinburne, R - Interview with Science and Religion News (2006)

Valentine, E - Conceptual Issues in Psychology (1992)

Velmans, M - Understanding Consciousness (2000)

Video reference:

Plantinga - Against Materialism (Talk at CA Poly State Uni, 2004)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLzZv5...

• Category

  Education

[uccello666]

Link for Jim Al-khalili's "Order&Disorder - Information"

/documentaries-plus.blogspot.c­om/2012/11/order-and-disorder-­bbc-horizon

It is very well explained for non-physicists.

This dualism reminds me of the wedge strategy of "Intelligent Design". It is a veneer of the old religion, similar to the appropriation of Plato and Aristotle by St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas

[uccello666]

I normally love your videos, but this time you have paid too much attention to this subject. This dualism thing is just a regurgitation of the old Plato which you cunningly pointed out helped Descartes and others to make the transition to regular science. New information theory has solved all this through mathematics. It is information, contained in physical systems that require a minimum energy that makes us who we are. See Jim Al-khalili's "Order&Disorder - Information"

[BeastyGunner]

(continued) possible in correlation to how it performs physically means that anything inconceivable must be possible. If thats the case, what if something conceivable is not physically bound to our understanding of what is physically possible. Hence, things not conceivable but possible must be possible if they become conceivable.

[BeastyGunner]

You say a conceivable thought isn't always physically possible. If the non-physical substance isn't physical, how is it that its conceivable? You define things as either physically possible or not physically possible, but always conceivable. If it was inconceivable, wouldn't it technically be always physically possible? If you can't explain how its conceivably (go to next comment)

[Scynthescizor]

With a username of QualiaSoup, it is surprising you did not address the qualia argument for dualism, which is one of the more popular and hefty objections to monism.

[Bendig12]

Not at all. You seem to be referring to brain plasticity, which is a quite different matter.

[John Boen]

Example:

youtube link: /watch?v=ZMLzP1VCANo

[TheFartoholic]

Could we get a source on the experiment on the patients with their brain hemispheres separated? I thought the idea that the two hemispheres were specialised in specific tasks had been abandoned by modern scientists.

[Eviscera09]

Good work. I've engaged in these types of debates before, but found them exceeding frustration, to the point where certain confusing and often poorly defined hypotheticals end up side tracking the discussion, so the proponents no longer feel they need to justify their position.