Religious/“spiritual” commentators, New Age “scientists”, and self-described “anti-materialists” often cite the case of Wolfgang Pauli and his (what they call) “mystical” views. They also note that Pauli admired — and was inspired by — the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Yet Pauli was a physicist —indeed, a great physicist. So it’s…

There are many self-described “anti-materialists”, religious people and spiritual idealists who don’t just offer metaphysical arguments against what they call “materialism”: they also vocally express their hatred of it. And they hate it for primarily religious, moral and political reasons. Indeed, such people are often very open and honest about…

Some readers may believe that it’s a little conceited (or at least needlessly autobiographical) to refer back to — and even quote from — my ‘Chalmers’ Naturalistic Dualism vs Dennett’s Third-Person Absolutism’. However, my previous stance on Daniel Dennett’s “third-person absolutism”, alongside my revised stance on the same subject, may…

This essay is about how some of some of the analogies used in “popular science” to describe/explain quantum behaviour, events and objects may not actually be taken to be analogies by many — or even most — laypeople. It also argues that even when the analogies are taken to be…

In his popular books, the physicist Paul Davies uses various rhetorical and/or vague words and phrases in philosophically-important contexts. This essay argues that such words and phrases actually help generate and publicise his own theory of cosmic “purpose”. They also help generate the scientific and philosophical problems Davies believes both…

Eric Weinstein’s words have been chosen because they capture the positions of what he himself calls “religious scientists”. He also articulates what these scientists say about their (supposedly) “atheistic” critics. Weinstein also sees these religious scientists as today’s “heretics”. Indeed, he sees himself as a heretic too. [Eric Weinstein’s words…

It may seem a little unproductive to have a go at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. After all, it presents itself as a free service to academic philosophers. It is. Yet all I can say is that after having studied philosophy for over two decades, I still hardly understand the…

Philip Goff is a professional philosopher, not a political journalist, politician or activist. So the argument in this essay is that Goff — as a philosopher — is attempting to create a philosophy (in this case, cosmopsychism) that somehow embodies and expresses his prior religious, political and ethical views. …

The philosopher Philip Goff has just had a book published called Why? The Purpose of the Universe. According to the writer Philip Pullman, this book is “going to explain the purpose of the universe”. More relevantly, some reviewers have made a point of telling us that Goff’s philosophical speculations have…