THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH
Royal Institute of Philosophy
The Metaphysics of Consciousness
A Conference in Honour of T.L.S. Sprigge (1932–2007)
Edinburgh, 7–9 July 2009
What is consciousness? What is its place in the
physical universe? How did it arise in the
course of cosmic evolution? Can there be a
genuine scientific understanding of
consciousness? These and related questions
occupy a prominent place in contemporary studies
in metaphysics and philosophy of mind worldwide,
often involving complex interdisciplinary
connections between philosophy, psychology,
artificial intelligence (informatics), biology, and
cognitive neuroscience. At the same time, these
questions play a fundamental role in the
philosophies of great thinkers of the past such as,
among others, Descartes, Leibniz, William James,
Edmund Husserl, A.N. Whitehead and Heidegger.
This conference will bring together systematically
oriented historians of philosophy and
contemporary philosophers of mind to re-examine
inherited views and spark fruitful lines of future
inquiry. The conference is held in honour of the late
Timothy L.S. Sprigge – one of Edinburgh’s most
distinguished metaphysicians and author of
insightful writings on the nature of consciousness.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Please visit the conference website at:
https://www.philosophy.ed.ac.uk/metaphysicsofconsciousness/index.html
Consciousness cannot be controlled outside of the brain. In order to figure it out, first you have to understand that all things are related in some way or another. There are opposites, while at the same time there are different levels of events and happenings that are really the same — but on different scales. Most of us, because we live on the horizon, are only able to see 3 levels — above, here, and below, happy, neutral and sad, white, gray and black, etc. There are more than 3 levels, but to understand them you have to know that all these things are related. Being that we are on the horizon, that means we are everything –we are of the ocean and we are of the sky. Sleep is part of the earth; consciousness is part of the sky. Dreams are controlled by darkness; imagination is controlled by light. We have both—-consciousness and subconsciousness. Consciousness is the one most of us feel comfortable with because we “think” we can control it. Subconsciousness is non-thinking. So, being that there are 3 levels, we have consciousness, ?, and subconsciousness. You can see all things being the same on different levels as well. People are studying how to cure cancer and all they have to do is understand black holes in space and how to destroy them. It’s just the same…..cancer cells, ?, black holes.
This and the previous post have about 1000 times as much white space as they should.
The ontology of white space is much like the ontology of holes.