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Paul Austin Murphy’s Essays on Philosophy
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Relationalism/Relationism and its Violent Hierarchy: Relations vs Things
Relationalism/Relationism and its Violent Hierarchy: Relations vs Things
[The word “things” is used to refer to objects, entities, particulars, individuals, etc.]
Paul Austin Murphy
Jul 3
Physics and the Philosophy of Intrinsic Properties
Physics and the Philosophy of Intrinsic Properties
(i) Introduction (ii) David Lewis on Intrinsic Properties (iii) Philip Goff on Intrinsic Nature (iv) Did Bertrand Russell Reject Intrinsic…
Paul Austin Murphy
Jun 30
Did Daniel Dennett Believe that Qualia Are Real?
Did Daniel Dennett Believe that Qualia Are Real?
According to Owen Flanagan, Daniel Dennett happily accepted that there is a way things seem to us. However, is that the same thing as…
Paul Austin Murphy
Jun 28
A Deflationary View of Information in Physics
A Deflationary View of Information in Physics
This essay tackles the notion of information as it’s used by physicists.
Paul Austin Murphy
Jun 26
Bertrand Russell: “The only way to find out what philosophy is, is to do philosophy.”
Bertrand Russell: “The only way to find out what philosophy is, is to do philosophy.”
The English philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) believed that when it comes to definitions of the word ‘philosophy’ (as well as to…
Paul Austin Murphy
Jun 25
A Naturalist Account of Phenomenology: Qualia and How Things Seem To Us
A Naturalist Account of Phenomenology: Qualia and How Things Seem To Us
This essay is about Owen Flanagan’s naturalist account of phenomenology. More specifically, it tackles various phenomenological accounts of…
Paul Austin Murphy
Jun 24
On Consciousness and Intelligence: Is It Mainly About Definitions?
On Consciousness and Intelligence: Is It Mainly About Definitions?
This essay is on the importance — and relevance — of definitions when it comes to debates about consciousness and intelligence. (As mainly…
Paul Austin Murphy
Jun 19
Carlo Rovelli on the Religious Critics of Science
Carlo Rovelli on the Religious Critics of Science
The theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli writes: “The world is full of people who say that they have The Truth. [] There is always someone…
Paul Austin Murphy
Jun 16
Neuroscientist Anil Seth Links Panpsychism To Integrated Information Theory
Neuroscientist Anil Seth Links Panpsychism To Integrated Information Theory
(i) Introduction (ii) Integrated Information Theory and Panpsychism (iii) David Chalmers on Conscious Thermostats (iv) Is Information…
Paul Austin Murphy
Jun 2
Anil Seth: Consciousness ≠ Integrated Information
Anil Seth: Consciousness ≠ Integrated Information
Integrated information theorists postulate a literal identity between consciousness and integrated information. The British neuroscientist…
Paul Austin Murphy
May 29
Rudolf Carnap: Truth Is Relative to Convention
Rudolf Carnap: Truth Is Relative to Convention
“The conditions of the truth of sentences in a system need not be found outside the system [or convention], but must be provided within…
Paul Austin Murphy
May 24
Carlo Rovelli vs Panpsychism: “Each atom must be a proto-cyclist.”
Carlo Rovelli vs Panpsychism: “Each atom must be a proto-cyclist.”
“It is like saying that since a bicycle is made of atoms, then each atom must be a proto-cyclist.” — Carlo Rovelli
Paul Austin Murphy
May 22
In 1931, the Philosopher G.F. Stout Hinted at Panpsychism
In 1931, the Philosopher G.F. Stout Hinted at Panpsychism
George Frederick Stout (1860–1944) was an English philosopher and psychologist.
Paul Austin Murphy
May 17
Speaking of Something: On a Causal Theory of Reference
Speaking of Something: On a Causal Theory of Reference
This essay is mainly about Keith Donnellan’s paper ‘Speaking of Nothing’, and its defence of a causal theory of reference.
Paul Austin Murphy
May 4
Why Do People See Three Columns, Rather Than Four Rows?
Why Do People See Three Columns, Rather Than Four Rows?
The conceptual nature of experience (as derived from sensations) is supposedly shown by an example from the philosopher Christopher…
Paul Austin Murphy
Apr 30
Do People Really Write (or Read) and Listen to Music at the Same Time?
Do People Really Write (or Read) and Listen to Music at the Same Time?
“Another benefit of listening to music while reading is that music can help you retain information. This is because listening to music can…
Paul Austin Murphy
Apr 18
Sexy Popular Science: The Multiverse, Many Worlds, and Quantum Stuff
Sexy Popular Science: The Multiverse, Many Worlds, and Quantum Stuff
“Unsurprisingly, pop culture gets the multiverse wrong.”
Paul Austin Murphy
Apr 11
Physicist Peter Woit on the Sociology of String Theory
Physicist Peter Woit on the Sociology of String Theory
The following piece is on Peter Woit’s strong stance against string theory. It focusses on Woit’s sociological analysis of string theory…
Paul Austin Murphy
Apr 7
Why Study Philosophy If It’s Already Dead?
Why Study Philosophy If It’s Already Dead?
The American writer Joyce Carol Oates offers her ‘Followers’ (on X) the words in the screenshot below. They seem to be a variation on…
Paul Austin Murphy
Apr 4
Naturalism Is a Religion, According to a Christian Apologist (2)
Naturalism Is a Religion, According to a Christian Apologist (2)
The following is a follow-up to my last essay, ‘Naturalism, According to a Christian Apologist (1)’. This was on the article ‘What is…
Paul Austin Murphy
Mar 30
Naturalism, According to a Christian Apologist (1)
Naturalism, According to a Christian Apologist (1)
The words “Christian Apologist” are used in the title above because the passages quoted within the following essay come from the website…
Paul Austin Murphy
Mar 27
Why Heidegger, the Nazis and Religious People Wanted to “Transcend Rationality”
Why Heidegger, the Nazis and Religious People Wanted to “Transcend Rationality”
The title of this essay could just as easily have included the words “poststructuralists” and “postmodernists”. However, it would have been…
Paul Austin Murphy
Mar 23
Judith Butler’s Pretentious and Obscurantist Writing Style
Judith Butler’s Pretentious and Obscurantist Writing Style
(i) Introduction (ii) Judith Butler and Jacques Derrida (iii) Julian Baggini on Jacques Derrida’s Writing Style (iv) Cathy Birkenstein on…
Paul Austin Murphy
Mar 19
Two Contemporary Wittgensteinians Fight Against Scientism in Philosophy
Two Contemporary Wittgensteinians Fight Against Scientism in Philosophy
The British philosophers P.M.S. Hacker (Peter Hacker) and Paul Horwich speak out against scientism in contemporary analytic philosophy.
Paul Austin Murphy
Mar 18
Two Worshippers of Wittgenstein: Paul Horwich and Peter Hacker
Two Worshippers of Wittgenstein: Paul Horwich and Peter Hacker
[See my next essay, ‘Two Contemporary Wittgensteinians Fight Against Scientism in Philosophy’.]
Paul Austin Murphy
Mar 15
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