Philosophy Bites Daily

The Singularity - is it near?

Ray Kurzweil thinks that we are on track for uploading minds in the lifetimes of some people now living. Read more...

Consciousness and the Brain

Antonio Damasio gives an evolutionary account of 'a state of mind in which there is knowledge of one's own existence and of the existence of surroundings'. But is that enough? Read more...

The Belief Instinct

So God is a scratch on our psychological lens. How irritating. Read more...

The Experimental Philosophy of Consciousness

We attribute consciousness on the basis of facts about the body of the being in question. This is the claim of experimental philosophers. Not sure what implications this has for the Turing Test. Read more...

Montaigne, Sympathy and Proximity

Montaigne had intuitive insights that are consistent with recent neuroscience, or so it seems. Read more...

Raymond Tallis on the Mystery of Consciousness

Surely what makes us human is the fact that we have a distinctive kind of brain. That's what neuroscientists and many philosophers are saying. Raymond Tallis, though, wants to give greater weight to what novelists, poets, social workers and some philosophers can tell us about consciousness. Neuroscientists should recognise their limitations. Read more...

What Does the Human Mind Look Like?

Ludwig Wittgenstein thought that the best picture of the soul was the human body. So is the best picture of the human mind one of the brain? Read more...

Science and the Singularity

Uploaded minds and the prospect of mental immortality may be possible in decades say advocates of the exponential increase in technological capability dubbed 'the singularity'. This may be science fantasy, but brain enhancement isn't. Carl Zimmer explores the science of the futurologists. Read more...

Change Your Mind

We know we can change our bodies, but we can also make significant choices about how our brains develop according to Oliver Sacks (who has a cool website here). Neuroplasticity, the way the brain adapts to new functions, is the key. Read more...

Neurobabble vs Real Science of Mind

It should come as no surprise that brain activity is linked to psychological activity. Correlations between localized neural activity and psychological facts may indeed be important, but popular science writers have been too ready to leap to leap to conclusions on the basis of immature science. Tyler Burge maps out how he thinks neuroscience should proceed. Read more...

Neurotrash

Roger Scruton sides with Raymond Tallis against Pat Churchland and those who believe that neuroscience and the Functional MRI scan can reveal much about the mind. Read more...