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Paul Austin Murphy’s Essays on Philosophy
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Stephen Jay Gould on Science and Religion: The Politics of “Non-Overlapping Magisteria”
Stephen Jay Gould on Science and Religion: The Politics of “Non-Overlapping Magisteria”
This essay doesn’t (as it were) have a go at religion. Instead, it simply highlights how poor Stephen Jay Gould’s arguments are. Indeed, it…
Paul Austin Murphy
Mar 19
Physicist Paul Davies’s Deep — or Specious! — Questions About Life, the Universe and Everything
Physicist Paul Davies’s Deep — or Specious! — Questions About Life, the Universe and Everything
Physicist and popular science writer Paul Davies asks his readers a fair few deep questions… But are his questions deep? Perhaps Davies’s…
Paul Austin Murphy
Mar 12
Physicist Paul Davies’s Faith in His Idea That Science is “Founded on Faith”
Physicist Paul Davies’s Faith in His Idea That Science is “Founded on Faith”
The following essay is a response to Paul Davies’s op-ed article ‘Taking Science on Faith’, which was published by the New York Times. The…
Paul Austin Murphy
Mar 9
What is Information and Its Relation to Consciousness?
What is Information and Its Relation to Consciousness?
The word “information” has many different uses and definitions in the sciences and philosophy. Most of these differ strongly from how…
Paul Austin Murphy
Mar 3
Intertextuality: Philosophy About Philosophy
Intertextuality: Philosophy About Philosophy
When it comes to many students of philosophy, it can be said that the whole process of learning the discipline can — or does — involve the…
Paul Austin Murphy
Feb 26
Roger Penrose on Kurt Gödel and Gödelian Truth
Roger Penrose on Kurt Gödel and Gödelian Truth
Physicist and mathematician Roger Penrose believes that the ascertaining of (what can be called) Gödelian truths is a non-algorithmic…
Paul Austin Murphy
Feb 22
Albert Einstein on Naive Science: Observation, Induction and Cataloguing
Albert Einstein on Naive Science: Observation, Induction and Cataloguing
Albert Einstein once referred to the traditional view of science as one which posited a “continuous process of induction” and “the…
Paul Austin Murphy
Feb 20
Max Tegmark Suggests the Term ‘Homo Sentiens’ to Account for Our Extra Specialness
Max Tegmark Suggests the Term ‘Homo Sentiens’ to Account for Our Extra Specialness
The well-known physicist and AI expert Max Tegmark once wrote the following: “As we prepare to be humbled by ever smarter machines, I…
Paul Austin Murphy
Feb 16
Isaac Newton’s Empiricist Philosophy of Science
Isaac Newton’s Empiricist Philosophy of Science
Some critics (or downplayers) of the philosophy of science (or philosophy generally) may argue that Isaac Newton didn’t actually have a…
Paul Austin Murphy
Feb 14
Erwin Schrödinger on the Many Worlds of the Wave Function
Erwin Schrödinger on the Many Worlds of the Wave Function
Schrödinger once raised the possibility that the wave function’s “great many alternatives may not be alternatives [at all], but all really…
Paul Austin Murphy
Feb 7
If Consciousness Is a Natural Phenomenon, Then…
If Consciousness Is a Natural Phenomenon, Then…
If consciousness is a natural phenomenon, then it must also be a scientific phenomenon.
Paul Austin Murphy
Jan 28
Water Isn’t Wet! A Philosophical Take on Semantic Stipulation
Water Isn’t Wet! A Philosophical Take on Semantic Stipulation
There’s a YouTube video called ‘Water Isn’t Wet’ in which the presenter discusses various definitions of water which have it that “water…
Paul Austin Murphy
Jan 15
J.R. Lucas and Kurt Gödel Rage Against the Machines
J.R. Lucas and Kurt Gödel Rage Against the Machines
The philosopher J.R. Lucas argued that all minds must be “alive” and (it can safely be assumed) human, not “dead” and “ossified” like…
Paul Austin Murphy
Jan 5
Two Fundamentals of Emergence: Emergent Properties and Downward Causation
Two Fundamentals of Emergence: Emergent Properties and Downward Causation
Psychologist Stephen Kosslyn tells us that “there are aggregates which produce properties that can’t be predicted entirely from the…
Paul Austin Murphy
Dec 30, 2022
Quantum Theory as Medieval Necromancy
Quantum Theory as Medieval Necromancy
The physicist Edwin Thompson Jaynes (1922–1998) once stated the following: “Somewhere in quantum theory, the distinction between reality…
Paul Austin Murphy
Dec 26, 2022
Einstein’s Brain: Does Size Matter?
Einstein’s Brain: Does Size Matter?
There’s been a lot of excited and curious talk about Albert Einstein’s brain over the decades. Or, more correctly, there’s been a lot of…
Paul Austin Murphy
Dec 5, 2022
Are Facts Found and Then Simply Registered? Or Are Facts… Made?
Are Facts Found and Then Simply Registered? Or Are Facts… Made?
The sociologists Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar claim that what we take to be reality “can’t be used to explain why a statement becomes a…
Paul Austin Murphy
Nov 20, 2022
Can you admire a philosopher and not agree with most — or even any — of his views? (1)
Can you admire a philosopher and not agree with most — or even any — of his views? (1)
This is the first of a series of short (as it were) off-the-cuff philosophical responses to various philosophical and non-philosophical…
Paul Austin Murphy
Nov 14, 2022
Why the Advocates of Spirituality and Idealism Hijack the Words of Quantum Physicists
Why the Advocates of Spirituality and Idealism Hijack the Words of Quantum Physicists
Some readers might have noted the multitude of memes on social media posted by the advocates of spirituality, New Ageism and idealism which…
Paul Austin Murphy
Nov 10, 2022
The Politics, Spirituality and Sexy Craziness of Panpsychism: Rudy Rucker and Philip Goff
The Politics, Spirituality and Sexy Craziness of Panpsychism: Rudy Rucker and Philip Goff
Not all brands of panpsychism can be tied to spirituality, religion and/or politics. However, some (perhaps many) brands can be. This issue…
Paul Austin Murphy
Nov 4, 2022
The Fact that Philosophy Isn’t Physics Annoys Some Popular Physicists
The Fact that Philosophy Isn’t Physics Annoys Some Popular Physicists
Some best-selling physicists really dislike philosophy and see it as a complete waste of time. Is this largely down to the very-simple fact…
Paul Austin Murphy
Nov 1, 2022
Is Every Richard Feynman Quote Really Profound and Wise?
Is Every Richard Feynman Quote Really Profound and Wise?
The late and great Richard Feynman once famously declared: “Snow is white.” Feynman also quipped that “drinking Earl Grey tea is like…
Paul Austin Murphy
Oct 27, 2022
I’m Sick of Philosophical Zombies!
I’m Sick of Philosophical Zombies!
In the last twenty years (or even longer), philosophical zombies have been very popular in philosophy. The exotic and sexy appeal of…
Paul Austin Murphy
Oct 24, 2022
The Wittgenstein Interpretation Industry
The Wittgenstein Interpretation Industry
The philosopher Lee Braver claimed that Wittgenstein’s “writing style is perhaps the most obscure of all the great analytic figures”. This…
Paul Austin Murphy
Oct 17, 2022
Physicist Steven Weinberg Defended Reductionism: Mary Midgley and Gerald Edelman Attacked It
Physicist Steven Weinberg Defended Reductionism: Mary Midgley and Gerald Edelman Attacked It
Philosopher Mary Midgley once asked this question: “How will the language of physics convey the meaning of the sentence ‘George was allowed…
Paul Austin Murphy
Oct 12, 2022
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