(June 15, 2019 at 1:58 pm)ColdComfort Wrote: I haven't mentioned or at least argued for an immaterial soul yet on this forum. Just the existence of conscious experiences distinct from brain activity and possessing causal power over behavior.Sure, you have not mentioned it, but it is clearly where you want to go. So let us just shortcut the whole ambiguation deal.
Have you any evidence any conscious experience absent a live brain? I am pretty sure you don't.
(June 15, 2019 at 1:58 pm)ColdComfort Wrote: Your point about Aristotle being a materialist: He would not be a materialist in any sense in which we use the word today. Universals exist only in the mind it is true but they correspond to that within a physical object that makes it intelligible. The form of an object is ontologically distinct from it's matter. Further the form determines the behavior we see in physical things.Word salad is no substitute for actual evidence. Do you have any?
(June 15, 2019 at 1:58 pm)ColdComfort Wrote: If someone wants to call him a materialist that's fine. It might also open a good discussion on what contemporary philosophy means by matter. The word is often used as if it's meaning is self-evident.Years ago I used to work with a guy whose primary degree was in philosophy. We were programmers. So I asked him the obvious question. Why are you a programmer now? He said and I quote, "Philosophy is a waste of time that cannot put food on your table". That is a philosophy I can relate to.
