Re: Against Physics

From: Brent Meeker <meekerdb.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:51:19 -0700

Rex Allen wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 2:30 PM, Flammarion<peterdjones.domain.name.hidden> wrote:
>>>> If you can't see into the future, you are going to have to
>>>> make your mind up in the present
>>> Assuming physicalism, my brain will make my mind up for me,
>> Asssuming physcialism, your brain is you and not some external force
>> pulling your strings
>
>
> Let me put it this way:
>
> "Assuming physicalism, my brain will make my brain up for me."
>
> In other words, assuming physicalism, my brain will do what my brain
> is going to do given that the state of the universe and the laws of
> physics are what they are.
>
> Assuming physicalism, experience is just an acausal aspect of matter
> and energy. There is no "me" except as a term of convenience for
> particular configurations of matter and energy.
>
> Physicalism is based on the principle of sufficient reason, under
> which nothing happens that isn't caused.

Quantum mechanics is probabilistic - many events are not caused in the sense of
"sufficient reason".

>The interactions of matter
> and energy are apparently do not have special exceptions for
> consciousness to influence how the system develops. So, under
> physicalism there either is no consciousness (except as a term of
> convenience), or consciousness is epiphenemonal...caused but acausal.
>
> I'll leave it to you to translate that into terms of "pulling strings".
>
> Indeterminism doesn't get you any further,

Where are you trying to get? to an immortal soul? a ghost-in-the-machine? What's wrong
with my mind is what my brain does?

Brent

>as it just inserts a
> roll-of-the-dice element into the rules that govern (or describe) the
> evolution of the system along its "time" dimension (whatever time is).
>
> >
>


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Received on Mon Aug 31 2009 - 12:51:19 PDT

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