Churchland on Eliminative Materialism

Mirror from LennyBound's channel:

Patricia Churchland is a Canadian-American philosopher working at the University of California, San Diego. She is associated with a school of thought in the philosophy of mind called eliminativism (or eliminative materialism), which argues that folk-psychological concepts such as belief, free will, and consciousness will likely need to be revised as science understands more about the nature of brain function.

This interview is an excerpt from a documentary film entitled "Mastermind" by Sophie Besandoun and Pierre Faye.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Churchland

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/materialism-eliminative/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliminative_materialism

The complete 21-minute interview can be found here:
http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/faculty/pschurchland/movies/churchland2high...

This is a mirror of a video that was originally uploaded by LennyBound. Because his channel has two strikes, he has suggested that his videos be mirrored because he is concerned that his videos might be lost if his channel suffers another hit:
http://www.youtube.com/user/LennyBound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9ZDyusCwhk

Neuroscience Neurophilosophy playlist
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F625403703FA718A
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http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6ECC9241093D7099

Category:

Education

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• Neuroscience
• Neurophilosophy
• Philosophy
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• Mind
• Eliminative
• Materialism
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• Psychology
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• Reduction
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[CribNotes]

Yes, love will not disappear if it's proven to be nothing more than a biological mechanism....but it sure will lose a high percentage of its glorious luster. And in what way does such a result enrich the enjoyment of our lives?

[American9660]

It would be really nice if someone could caption or subtitle this video. I'd love to know what Churchland is saying on Eliminative Materialism, but I'm deaf and this video isn't accessible to folks like me without captions or subtitles. If anybody could post the transcript to this video, I'd be deeply appreciative, please let me know if this ever happens! (Thanks in advance!)

[ihatekhomeini]

@EvolvedAtheist Hehe, of course I accept that reality is real. But I also accept the Cartesian doubt that we can't for certain know that it is real. There is, however small, a probability that our ontological reality is an illusion. Nobody accepts this because you just have to stop debating anything if you accept it.

It's just like the God hypothesis. There is a, however small, chance that something like a God exists. A creator if you wish, or a Spinozian being.

[EvolvedAtheist]

@ihatekhomeini

In a word, no. There is no *probability* to the matrix notion. At the most, there is a vanishingly small *possibility*.

Imagine that you come upon an inferno at an oil refinery. Are you willing to test the possibility that the blazing fire is a figment of a an evil genie's imagination by walking into the "illusory" flames? You seem sane, so I'll assume that your answer is "no." In any case, please don't.

[ihatekhomeini]

@EvolvedAtheist You don't think that Descartes was correct in formulating that what we ultimately (100% certainty) can know is that we (the self) exist. I mean, there is a probability that we live in matrix (cheezy example, I know). Who was Bruno?

[EvolvedAtheist]

@ihatekhomeini

I don't think that Descartes was correct. His argument was governed by his prior assumptions and his stated purpose. Given what happened to Giordano Bruno, Rene's obsequy was understandable. It can be difficult to tease a posteriori assumptions from innate capacities, but I'd say that we "discover" very little. We have no difficulty following our "instincts", but following inculcated rules can be difficult.

[ihatekhomeini]

@EvolvedAtheist I just wanted to kind of further our talk. Don't you think Descartes in his meditations came to a conclusion of what we can be completely certain of through methaphysics, and that he is ultimately right? And further, would you be willing to accept the theory of ethical realism? That ethics as a system, like mathematics, is something that we "discover" not create ourselves? Does this sound completely far-fetched?

[EvolvedAtheist]

@ihatekhomeini

Well, none of those ideas exist in a vacuum, but metaphysics is certainly built more upon empirical evidence.

My degrees are in science, but I have lots of interests. I agree that our education determines our vested interests somewhat. However, I think that the reverse operates too -- we choose to study according to our natural interests and patterns of thought. I believe that education should be as broad-based as practicable.