Philosopher Philip Goff writes: “Somehow little subjects, such as electrons and quarks, come together to produce big conscious subjects, such as human brains.” [Note: it was difficult to decide whether or not to use the term “big conscious subject” or “big mind” in the following because Philip Goff often uses…

Richard Rorty claimed that “analytic philosophy is still committed to the construction of a permanent, neutral framework for inquiry, and thus for all culture”. Much of what Richard Rorty (1931–2007) wrote is insightful and a breath of fresh air — at least when taken within the context of many other…

Philosopher Craig Callender believes that “many debates in analytic metaphysics are sterile or even empty”. Is he right about this? “We divide analytic metaphysics into naturalistic and non-naturalistic metaphysics. The latter we define as any philosophical theory that makes some ontological (as opposed to conceptual) claim, where that ontological claim…

According to neuroscientist and Nobel laureate Gerald Edelman, consciousness “can only be understood from a biological standpoint, not through physics or computer science or other approaches that ignore the structure of the brain”. When did consciousness become a (fit) subject for science? According to the science journalist John Horgan (in…

The American philosopher Ted Sider believes that “the realist picture requires the ‘ready-made-world’” and that “there must be a structure that is mandatory for inquirers to discover”. Is he right about all this? Theodore “Ted” Sider is an American philosopher who concentrates on metaphysics. …

Many people (often non-academics) mention “peer-reviewed literature” at the drop of a hat. The main reason they do so is to back up — or give kudos to — their own positions. “I Would love to see how this topic is handled in credible peer-reviewed literature and not just scare…

Way back in 1979, controversial philosopher Richard Rorty discussed panpsychism at a time when it was completely ignored by virtually all analytic philosophers. Way back in 1979 (i.e., before the “rise of panpsychism”), the controversial American philosopher Richard Rorty (1931- 2007) discussed neutral monism and panpsychism at a time when…

The following is a short and simple account of Peter Murphy’s paper ‘Rewriting the A Priori/A Posteriori Distinction’, which has a self-explanatory title. Dual Epistemic Justification

Philosopher Jonathan Rée argues that relativists do believe in truth: they simply have their own take on it. Rée also has a problem with the notion of “objectivity” in science. [The following short biographical introduction which has been copied-and-pasted from the first part of this essay on Jonathan Rée, which…