Paul Austin MurphyNatural Emergence and Evil ReductionismThis essay is a response to ‘Emergence’, by the American theoretical physicist Anthony Garrett Lisi. Lisi argues for something he calls…Just nowJust now
Paul Austin MurphyMy Sixteen Essays on the Philosopher David ChalmersWhy have I written sixteen essays on David Chalmers? I’ve done so because I believe he’s a very-good philosopher… and that’s even though I…1d ago1d ago
Paul Austin MurphyOld and New Mysterians: Huxley, Tyndall, Chomsky, McGinn, PinkerThe term “new mysterianism” was coined by the philosopher Owen Flanagan. It usually refers to positions adopted on the hard problem of…3d ago23d ago2
Paul Austin MurphyDo Mysterians Believe That Science Will Leave the Mysteries Unexplained… Forever?It’s helpful to distinguish two types of mysterian: (1) Those who both yearn for, and depend upon, mysteries. (2) Those who discover what…5d ago55d ago5
Paul Austin MurphyGödel’s Logical Proof of God’s Existence Depends on Religious AssumptionsKurt Gödel’s proof of God’s existence may well work logically. Indeed, it may even be logically flawless. However, it doesn’t actually…Aug 154Aug 154
Paul Austin MurphyDid Consciousness Come Before Life?The anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff believes that consciousness predates evolution. Indeed, he believes it predates life itself. Hameroff…Aug 1120Aug 1120
Paul Austin MurphyinPaul Austin Murphy’s Essays on PhilosophyStephen Hawking on Everything From Nothing… What?!In the book The Grand Design (2010), Stephen Hawking wrote a passage which has been quoted and memed many times. In it, there’s this line…Aug 74Aug 74
Paul Austin MurphyinPaul Austin Murphy’s Essays on PhilosophyAre Kurt Gödel’s Theorems Overstretched, Overused, and Overplayed?In this instance, the philosopher J.R. Lucas relied heavily on Kurt Gödel's first incompleteness theorem to advance his position against…Aug 43Aug 43
Paul Austin MurphyinPaul Austin Murphy’s Essays on PhilosophyVirtual Realities Are Real Fakes: Chalmers and Baudrillard on RealitySome 40 years ago, Jean Baudrillard rejected the distinction between “reality” and the “simulacrum”. (He stated: “The simulacrum is true.”)…Aug 22Aug 22
Paul Austin MurphyinPaul Austin Murphy’s Essays on PhilosophyThe Gödelian Argument Against Machine Minds Relies On Skilled Metamathematicians Seeing…Did the philosopher J.R. Lucas and the mathematical physicist Roger Penrose rely on the rare abilities of a very-small set of…Aug 15Aug 15