Mind/matter duality

[bennyboy]

As far as the OP, I really think you can arbitrarily look at either mind or physicalism as the top of the food chain, so to speak, and that as soon as you change your perspective, what is "true" automatically changes with it.

I agree with this. To me it's no different than looking at a song as vibrations in air or as scales/rhythm/harmony/melody/etc. Both are valid, both have meaning, and knowledge can be gained by asking questions from either point of view. To me, saying that the mind is "nothing more" than neural activity is untrue, just as untrue as it would be to say that music is "nothing more" than vibrations. As to why this entails an entity that experiences it, I'll get back to you.

My problem is with the idea that there must be a CORRECT-- i.e. an absolutely true, position. Physicalists think that the physical monist model is "true," and that idealist models are "false," and any suggestion otherwise leads to inevitable mockery.

The problem is that there's no non-arbitrary way to arrive at physical monism (i.e. without making assumptions that serve also to beg the question).

I think the universe is itself ambiguous. If anything, that's the "secret" formula that keeps it going.