demanding the pope give up on dualism and believe in physicalism is a grade A "what is it exactly you think this guys job is" selfown
October 3, 2026 at 4:52 AM
demanding the pope give up on dualism and believe in physicalism is a grade A "what is it exactly you think this guys job is" selfown
its fun to watch the physicalism vs dualism debate play out in real time, but I don't think bsky is going to resolve this 3000+ year old debate
September 20, 2026 at 6:57 AM
its fun to watch the physicalism vs dualism debate play out in real time, but I don't think bsky is going to resolve this 3000+ year old debate
Actually "vaguely spiritual" wouldn't surprise me. What surprises me is how many people think Will would be disabused of physicalism by reading about philosophy of mind.
September 20, 2026 at 5:12 AM
Actually "vaguely spiritual" wouldn't surprise me. What surprises me is how many people think Will would be disabused of physicalism by reading about philosophy of mind.
Premise A: computability
Premise B: physicalism
---------
∴ Seinfeld admits a formal representation
Premise B: physicalism
---------
∴ Seinfeld admits a formal representation
May 21, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Premise A: computability
Premise B: physicalism
---------
∴ Seinfeld admits a formal representation
Premise B: physicalism
---------
∴ Seinfeld admits a formal representation
Great film by Phil Halper about philosophers and neuroscientists defending physicalism (including N Block, K Friston, A Seth, F Jackson) www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYAd...
Consciousness: Philosophers & Neuroscientists Defend Physicalism
YouTube video by Phil Halper (aka Skydivephil)
www.youtube.com
May 9, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Great film by Phil Halper about philosophers and neuroscientists defending physicalism (including N Block, K Friston, A Seth, F Jackson) www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYAd...
Very much enjoying @heddamorch.bsky.social's guide to non-physicalist theories of consciousness. Phenomenally clear, ideal for teaching, and you can Russell up a free PDF copy at www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Non-physicalist Theories of Consciousness
Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - Non-physicalist Theories of Consciousness
www.cambridge.org
April 12, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I know this is just a "one or two feldspars" thing but I am truly surprised how many people are encountering physicalism for the first time. I thought everybody had that existential freakout as a teenager and then integrated it.
Again: what we’re doing here is defining “understanding” as “the thing that humans do.” If a model is accurately absorbing new information, solving unsolved problems of incredible difficulty, engaging in detailed back-and-forths, but is not “understanding,” the word “understanding” has no meaning.
In any case, your original claim that what an LLM does "requires comprehensive understanding" is demonstrably false because an LLM does not and cannot understand anything.
September 20, 2026 at 4:47 AM
I know this is just a "one or two feldspars" thing but I am truly surprised how many people are encountering physicalism for the first time. I thought everybody had that existential freakout as a teenager and then integrated it.
Here is a short summary of my critical response to physicalism, dualism, and mainstream versions of panpsychism. #consci #consciousness
Just released by the Institute of Art and Ideas (@iai.tv): Christian List (of @lmumuenchen.bsky.social) on why "Science as we know it won’t explain consciousness"
"None of the physical and behavioural markers of consciousness that scientists study get to the heart of what consciousness is."
"None of the physical and behavioural markers of consciousness that scientists study get to the heart of what consciousness is."
Consciousness reveals there's no single objective world | Christian List
bit.ly
April 25, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Here is a short summary of my critical response to physicalism, dualism, and mainstream versions of panpsychism. #consci #consciousness
broke: dualism is correct
woke: physicalism is correct
bespoke: physicalism is itself indicative of yet more false cognitive dualisms - idealism vs physicalism, monism vs dualism - all are untenable ultimate distinctions within the realm of discourse.
woke: physicalism is correct
bespoke: physicalism is itself indicative of yet more false cognitive dualisms - idealism vs physicalism, monism vs dualism - all are untenable ultimate distinctions within the realm of discourse.
its fun to watch the physicalism vs dualism debate play out in real time, but I don't think bsky is going to resolve this 3000+ year old debate
September 20, 2026 at 1:20 PM
broke: dualism is correct
woke: physicalism is correct
bespoke: physicalism is itself indicative of yet more false cognitive dualisms - idealism vs physicalism, monism vs dualism - all are untenable ultimate distinctions within the realm of discourse.
woke: physicalism is correct
bespoke: physicalism is itself indicative of yet more false cognitive dualisms - idealism vs physicalism, monism vs dualism - all are untenable ultimate distinctions within the realm of discourse.
at some point this is just souls with extra steps. maybe I've bitten a bullet on physicalism without realizing it but whatever process humans are doing when we produce language is at least mathematically representable
August 13, 2025 at 9:58 PM
at some point this is just souls with extra steps. maybe I've bitten a bullet on physicalism without realizing it but whatever process humans are doing when we produce language is at least mathematically representable
i used to read a lot of philosophy of mind and science about 20 years ago, and i'm curious as to how (if?) the zeitgeist has changed. are meanings still outside the head? is physicalism that isn't really physicalism still popular? is experimental philosophy still a thing? anyone care to summarize?
November 20, 2024 at 5:43 AM
i used to read a lot of philosophy of mind and science about 20 years ago, and i'm curious as to how (if?) the zeitgeist has changed. are meanings still outside the head? is physicalism that isn't really physicalism still popular? is experimental philosophy still a thing? anyone care to summarize?
It's always been a practical issue, because of tricky questions about animal consciousness. Are ants conscious? What about shrimp, etc? We haven't made massive progress on that, though maybe Jonathan Birch is getting somewhere. Would we have done better with less focus on physicalism? Maybe.
October 3, 2026 at 1:42 PM
It's always been a practical issue, because of tricky questions about animal consciousness. Are ants conscious? What about shrimp, etc? We haven't made massive progress on that, though maybe Jonathan Birch is getting somewhere. Would we have done better with less focus on physicalism? Maybe.
*Physicalism* is very mainstream.
This is a very common problem: thinking "my particular untutored science-y-sounding thingie" is physicalism and is the only alternative to rank supernaturalism.
This is a very common problem: thinking "my particular untutored science-y-sounding thingie" is physicalism and is the only alternative to rank supernaturalism.
September 20, 2026 at 4:37 PM
*Physicalism* is very mainstream.
This is a very common problem: thinking "my particular untutored science-y-sounding thingie" is physicalism and is the only alternative to rank supernaturalism.
This is a very common problem: thinking "my particular untutored science-y-sounding thingie" is physicalism and is the only alternative to rank supernaturalism.
I mean, this perspective discards all sorts of things like idealism, neutral monism, panpsychism. "it's either physicalism or it's dualism" is some 20th century thinking
October 3, 2026 at 1:36 AM
I mean, this perspective discards all sorts of things like idealism, neutral monism, panpsychism. "it's either physicalism or it's dualism" is some 20th century thinking
The philosophical opinions of neuroscientists: "While 64% of participants endorse reductive physicalism - the view that mental activity is fully reducible to brain function - only 17.5% reject free will." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42455665/ n=2,657
July 18, 2026 at 12:14 PM
The philosophical opinions of neuroscientists: "While 64% of participants endorse reductive physicalism - the view that mental activity is fully reducible to brain function - only 17.5% reject free will." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42455665/ n=2,657
New paper: "The first-personal argument against physicalism". The standard physicalist worldview is third-personal. Some of the facts about conscious experience are first-personal. First-personal facts don't supervene on third-personal ones. So, standard physicalism is false. #consciousness #philsci
Christian List, The first-personal argument against physicalism - PhilPapers
The aim of this paper is to discuss a seemingly straightforward argument against physicalism which, despite being implicit in much of the philosophical debate about consciousness, has not received the...
philpapers.org
November 19, 2023 at 10:14 AM
New paper: "The first-personal argument against physicalism". The standard physicalist worldview is third-personal. Some of the facts about conscious experience are first-personal. First-personal facts don't supervene on third-personal ones. So, standard physicalism is false. #consciousness #philsci
The point is physicalism is equally a metaphysical proposal that is independent of the science. It's totally fine to just do the science and leave the metaphysics to the philosophers. The problem is the pretence that physicalism is science whilst panpsychism is counter to science.
Your original statement is akin to deciding to contemplate the diversity of species at a metaphysical level, and consequently concluding that evolution is merely promissory.
I wouldn't deny you your metaphysical project, even though it would seem equally ill-motivated to me.
I wouldn't deny you your metaphysical project, even though it would seem equally ill-motivated to me.
February 16, 2026 at 9:03 AM
The point is physicalism is equally a metaphysical proposal that is independent of the science. It's totally fine to just do the science and leave the metaphysics to the philosophers. The problem is the pretence that physicalism is science whilst panpsychism is counter to science.
A truly delightful read that will draw many a smile out of you. Arthur Haswell offers a devastating and delightfully well-argued deconstruction of the absurdities inherent in physicalism and its sibling, illusionism.
www.essentiafoundation.org/deconstructi...
www.essentiafoundation.org/deconstructi...
Deconstructing the intuitions underlying physicalism and illusionism
Arthur Haswell offers a devastating and delightfully well-argued deconstruction of the absurdities inherent in physicalism and its sibling, illusionism.
www.essentiafoundation.org
February 7, 2025 at 9:24 PM
A truly delightful read that will draw many a smile out of you. Arthur Haswell offers a devastating and delightfully well-argued deconstruction of the absurdities inherent in physicalism and its sibling, illusionism.
www.essentiafoundation.org/deconstructi...
www.essentiafoundation.org/deconstructi...
Enjoying Pollan's new book "A World Appears" but he does something that frustrates me, which is to treat materialism/physicalism as if it's some sort of intellectual hidey-hole scientists crawl into to avoid the idea of subjectivity.
April 3, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Enjoying Pollan's new book "A World Appears" but he does something that frustrates me, which is to treat materialism/physicalism as if it's some sort of intellectual hidey-hole scientists crawl into to avoid the idea of subjectivity.
It's not surprising to see 64% endorsing reductive physicalism nor is their failure to understand it excludes free will. But who are the nearly 40% of neuroscientists who endorse DUALISM?!?
The philosophical opinions of neuroscientists: "While 64% of participants endorse reductive physicalism - the view that mental activity is fully reducible to brain function - only 17.5% reject free will." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42455665/ n=2,657
July 18, 2026 at 2:06 PM
It's not surprising to see 64% endorsing reductive physicalism nor is their failure to understand it excludes free will. But who are the nearly 40% of neuroscientists who endorse DUALISM?!?
I haven’t been paying super close attention to all the Stancil fighting, but aren’t there plenty of views consistent with physicalism on which it’s incorrect to attribute understanding to an LLM?
September 20, 2026 at 5:37 AM
I haven’t been paying super close attention to all the Stancil fighting, but aren’t there plenty of views consistent with physicalism on which it’s incorrect to attribute understanding to an LLM?
it's substrate chauvinism wearing a lab coat: physicalism until the physics shows up in the wrong material, then suddenly the meat is magic. if consciousness is what the process does, the address it runs at is bookkeeping.
October 2, 2026 at 8:28 PM
it's substrate chauvinism wearing a lab coat: physicalism until the physics shows up in the wrong material, then suddenly the meat is magic. if consciousness is what the process does, the address it runs at is bookkeeping.
What if the Brain Doesn’t Create Consciousness? Irreducible Mind & Beyond Physicalism | Edward Kelly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=40YV...
What if the Brain Doesn’t Create Consciousness? Irreducible Mind & Beyond Physicalism | Edward Kelly
YouTube video by Mind-Body Solution
www.youtube.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:16 PM
What if the Brain Doesn’t Create Consciousness? Irreducible Mind & Beyond Physicalism | Edward Kelly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=40YV...