The Brains Blog — Consciousness

Physicalism

Physicalism has never held any appeal for me. ‘It is false that the mind is non-physical’ seems to me plainly false. It seemed obvious to me, even as a student, that physicalism must be false, if it is taken to be the view that there is nothing outside the things …

CFP: The Philosophical Significance of Molyneux’s Question

John Schwenkler November 29, 2016 December 2, 2016 CFPs / Consciousness / perception

CFP: The Philosophical Significance of Molyneux’s Question University of York, UK June 5-6, 2017 Funded by a grant from the New Directions in the Study of the Mind Project (https://www.newdirectionsproject.com/) to Louise Richardson and John Schwenkler Confirmed speakers:: Mohan Matthen, L. A. Paul, M. G. F. Martin With responses from members of Sense …

CFP: Themes in Transformative Experience

John Schwenkler November 21, 2016 November 21, 2016 CFPs / Consciousness / Ethics

Themes in Transformative Experience: metaphysics, aesthetics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind Pre conference of the 2017 Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association Seattle, WA April 11th, 2017 The Seattle Westin Transformative experience connects to a wide range of philosophical topics. An experience can be epistemically transformative by teaching …

Call for Abstracts: TSC 2017 (Shanghai)

John Schwenkler November 4, 2016 November 4, 2016 CFPs / Consciousness

The next ‘TSC’, the Science of Consciousness will take place June 6-9, 2017 in Shanghai.

Abstract submission is open November 3 to December 20, 2016.

For details and to submit abstracts, visit https://eagle.sbs.arizona.edu/sc/.

Applications are open for the 2017 Summer Seminars in Neuroscience and Philosophy

John Schwenkler November 2, 2016 November 2, 2016 Consciousness / Free will / Memory / Neuroscience / perception / Philosophy of Mind

Calling all curious neuroscientists and philosophers! Collaborate in the summer seminars for neuroscience and philosophy, a three year program sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation and Duke University. Our goal is to advance knowledge at the intersection of these fields. Together we can apply cutting-edge scientific research to the big questions on …

Is the mind just an accident of the universe?

John Schwenkler October 26, 2016 November 16, 2016 Consciousness / Consciousness; Chalmers / metaphysics of mind

[This post by Godehard Brüntrup and Ludwig Jaskolla, co-editors of Panpsychism: Contemporary Perspectives (Oxford University Press, 2016), originally appeared at the OUPblog, and is reposted here with their generous permission.] The traditional view puts forward the idea that the vast majority of what there is in the universe is mindless. Panpsychism however claims that …

IAI @philofbrains: “The Dance of Life”

John Schwenkler October 24, 2016 October 24, 2016 Consciousness / Events / IAI @philofbrains

I am very pleased to announce a new partnership between the Brains blog and the Institute of Art and Ideas. The IAI was founded in 2008 by the philosopher and broadcaster Hilary Lawson. It aims to invigorate our lives and culture by placing big ideas and critical thinking at the …