Thursday 3 March 2022

Subjective Experience

See:

blog references to John Searle, here
 
Maybe the mind-body problem approaches resolution?
 
Causality
Causes and effects are not identical and are only empirically and contingently connected. There would be no logical contradiction if water were to remain liquid or were even to become solid above 100 degrees Centigrade, although, in the latter case, a new molecular theory would become necessary.
 
Causality of Consciousness
Electrically firing, chemically interacting neurons causes consciousness although some other cause might have been found. Disembodied consciousness is not logically impossible although a "pure spirit" would be a subject but not an object of consciousness and therefore would be undetectable. 
 
Subjective Experience
Given that a particular organism is conscious, there must be something that it is like to be that organism. See What Is It Like To Be A Bat? My subjective experiences are what it is like to be this organism. Every organism knows what it is like to be one organism and no other. If that is the case, then subjective experiences cannot exist independently of the organism.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

But I believe purely non-material spirits like the angels can reveal themselves to human beings if they wish to or are instructed by God to do so. And I also believe God sets limits on how far fallen angels, demons, can act in this world.

Ad astra! Sean