(March 29, 2014 at 8:13 pm)Rayaan Wrote: This is an enlightening and a very respectful debate which covers many of the philosophical explanations for consciousness. In it, the debater that starts to speak first is Hamza Andreas Tzortzis, a Muslim convert, who gives a scrupulous run down of the naturalistic explanations for consciousness and, ultimately, why they all fail. Then he presents an alternative argument, which is a theistic explanation. The other debater, Professor Peter Simons (who is an atheist and a philosopher), said that he agrees with everything his opponent said regarding the subject except for his conclusion, i.e. the idea that a greater sentient being is necessary in order for consciousness to exist. But whether you yourself believe in God or not, the various explanations presented are worth pondering on as they shed light on the mystery of consciousness from several fields of study, e.g. from a biological, theological, and a philosophical perspective, and how some of the explanations even complement each other.
Consciousness is such a poorly defined concept that anyone can manipulate the definition so that fits their belief/philosophy.
This is flim-flam, sir. PT Barnum would be proud.
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
