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Gerald R. Baron
Gerald R. Baron

1.3K Followers

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2 days ago

Sin, Awe and the Loss of Meaning

Our misunderstanding of an ancient idea is at the heart of our spiritual malaise. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” One of the first things to go when traditional Christian believers reject their faith is the idea that the God they worship is to be feared…

Awe

9 min read

Sin, Awe and the Loss of Meaning
Sin, Awe and the Loss of Meaning
Awe

9 min read


May 27

News about quantum energy teleportation raises questions about a universe from nothing

The Quanta Magazine report was intriguingly titled: “Physicists use quantum mechanics to pull energy out of nothing.” That could be big news, and could possibly help answer the ultimate question of where, how and why this universe came to be. It’s one of the truly big questions: Does our current…

Physics

7 min read

News about quantum energy teleportation raises questions about a universe from nothing
News about quantum energy teleportation raises questions about a universe from nothing
Physics

7 min read


May 20

If ants could reason, would they be religious?

Benjamin Cain, one of the more popular Medium philosophical writers with over 10k followers, posed an intriguing question recently: If there was some super intelligence involving itself in our universe and lives, would we recognize it any more than an ant would recognize if we intervened in its effort to…

Christianity

6 min read

If ants could reason, would they be religious?
If ants could reason, would they be religious?
Christianity

6 min read


May 17

Near Death Experiences and Religious Beliefs

In the previous post on Near Death Experiences (NDEs) we reviewed some of the current studies on brainwave activity of the dying. On first glance and reading the headlines the findings appear to support the physicalist belief that the mind, consciousness and experience are produced by the brain. In this…

Near Death Experiences

17 min read

Near Death Experiences and Religious Beliefs
Near Death Experiences and Religious Beliefs
Near Death Experiences

17 min read


May 8

New Research on Near Death Experiences May Shed Light on the Mind-Body Question

Near Death Experiences are one of the front lines in the battle between physicalism and spiritually-oriented belief systems. Physicalism says that only matter/energy exists and that only the matter/energy in our universe can cause any event. …

Near Death Experiences

13 min read

New Research on Near Death Experiences May Shed Light on the Mind-Body Question
New Research on Near Death Experiences May Shed Light on the Mind-Body Question
Near Death Experiences

13 min read


Apr 26

Panpsychism trapped by physicalism

This is the final post in the series on panpsychism as argued by philosopher Galen Strawson. The previous posts explored his argument that realist physicalists, those who accept experience as a real thing, must accept panpsychism as a fact of nature. We noted his inconsistency in abusing and then using…

Panpsychism

8 min read

Panpsychism trapped by physicalism
Panpsychism trapped by physicalism
Panpsychism

8 min read


Apr 23

Panpsychism and its problems

This is the third in a four part series explores philosopher Galen Strawson’s argument that physicalism requires the acceptance of panpsychism. He explains how the reality of experience requires the existence of experience in all matter/energy. He identifies some key objections to this idea, but does he answer them adequately? Emergence of experience from non-experience requires “proto-experience”

Panpsychism

8 min read

Panpsychism

8 min read


Apr 22

Does emergentism explain consciousness?

The second in a four part series on philosopher Galen Strawson’s argument that accepting physicalism requires an acceptance of panpsychism. Here we look at Strawson’s skewering of emergentists who claim that consciousness or experience is an emergent property of physical matter. Strawson is a realist physicalist, that is one who…

Panpsyschism

8 min read

Does emergentism explain consciousness?
Does emergentism explain consciousness?
Panpsyschism

8 min read


Apr 21

If you are a physicalist, must you must also be a panpsychist ?

This is the first of four posts investigating the strong claim of philosopher Galen Strawson that physicalism entails panpsychism. Does he succeed in establishing that panpsychism — the idea that all matter includes experience — is a fundamental reality of nature? Physicalism entails panpsychism: this is the strong argument presented…

Panpsychism

10 min read

If you are a physicalist, must you must also be a panpsychist ?
If you are a physicalist, must you must also be a panpsychist ?
Panpsychism

10 min read


Apr 5

Emergentism and Complexity: Serious Science or Physicalist Cop-out?

Does emergence describe something real or is it simply a fancy way to say: we have no freaking idea what is going on? Is it like doctors giving Latin names to unexplained things in order to provide a diagnosis? Like when my dentist sent me to a doctor to get…

Emergence

14 min read

Emergentism and Complexity: Serious Science or Physicalist Cop-out?
Emergentism and Complexity: Serious Science or Physicalist Cop-out?
Emergence

14 min read

Gerald R. Baron

Gerald R. Baron

1.3K Followers

Dawdling at the intersection of faith, science, philosophy and theology.

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