You’ve probably never heard of the problem of other kidneys or spent time wondering if anyone else has kidneys. The problem of other minds is different. Even if we knew all the physical facts about the human body, we still can’t directly confirm if someone else is conscious. A brain scan can show us the…… Continue reading What the Problem of Other Minds Can Tell Us About Our Own: the minimum requirement for explaining consciousness
Author: Prudence Louise
Faith is Fidelity: religious belief as a lived commitment
Many people think religion is a collection of beliefs about God, the soul and the afterlife. This view of religion drains all the life out of it. It flattens religion into an interesting fact you’d find in a dusty old textbook. When the Apostles’ Creed opens with ‘I believe,’ the Latin is credo, which means…… Continue reading Faith is Fidelity: religious belief as a lived commitment
Still Haunted by the Ghost of Descartes: why the hard problem won’t disappear
There’s a ghost story that was written 400 years ago and it still haunts the corridors of our conceptual architecture. In 1641 Rene Descartes neatly divided the world into two parts. On one side was the mind, a thinking thing. On the other side was matter, things with spatial dimension. His conceptual surgery was intended…… Continue reading Still Haunted by the Ghost of Descartes: why the hard problem won’t disappear
When Love Overflows: why the source of reality must be personal
We search for peace as if it were the highest goal. We try to remove suffering and agitation, hoping to find a state of satisfied equilibrium. But suppose we did achieve that state, would it be enough? The last article in this series described how aligning ourselves with the universal good produces existential well-being. The…… Continue reading When Love Overflows: why the source of reality must be personal
The Resonant Universe: why reality is not indifferent
Many of us experience a quiet sense of dissonance between ourselves and the modern worldview. We know ourselves as conscious, intentional beings who seek meaning and value. But the modern worldview tells us the universe itself is indifferent and insentient. This creates a discord between our experience and our metaphysics. This article takes that felt…… Continue reading The Resonant Universe: why reality is not indifferent
When Light Freezes – A Vedic answer to the hard problem of consciousness
James Clerk Maxwell’s work on electromagnetism was among the most important scientific achievements of the nineteenth century. Yet his contemporaries were slow to appreciate and understand his work. One of the reasons Maxwell’s theory was unappreciated was the difficulty of understanding it within the prevailing scientific paradigm. It required a conceptual shift. Maxwell replaced the…… Continue reading When Light Freezes – A Vedic answer to the hard problem of consciousness
You’re Already in Hell, and Why That’s Good News
Few doctrines have done more to diminish faith in a loving God than the idea some people will suffer eternally with no hope of redemption. For many people, this isn’t an abstract theological puzzle, this is the image of a loved one lost forever. The doctrine’s moral repugnance and its prominence in the Christian tradition…… Continue reading You’re Already in Hell, and Why That’s Good News
The Hard Problem isn’t a Neuroscience Problem
Most people assume an explanation of consciousness will be in the language of neuroscience and dazzle us with details about how the brain works. But this is a symptom of a widespread metaphysical confusion. The challenge of the hard problem of consciousness cuts much deeper. It asks whether neuroscience is even the right explanatory domain.…… Continue reading The Hard Problem isn’t a Neuroscience Problem
The Dynamic Life of Consciousness
Embracing the idealist worldview. What does it mean to say the substance of the world is conscious? Is idealism just an interesting philosophical theory with no practical relevance? Or does it turn our view of the world inside out, and illuminate the path to a fulfilling life? The dynamic life of consciousness Consciousness is a…… Continue reading The Dynamic Life of Consciousness
The Conscious Dimensions of Reality – A Vedic Analysis
Conscious experience is the essence of reality. Reality is that which is undeniable, and consciousness is exactly that. The very denial of consciousness presupposes its existence. Vedanta philosophy begins and ends with consciousness. According to Vedanta, consciousness encompasses four states or dimensions. Each dimension represents a deeper and more profound experience of reality. It’s important…… Continue reading The Conscious Dimensions of Reality – A Vedic Analysis
