What is Real?: Materialist's View of Reality, The
Materialists maintain that only the physical world is real. This idea which dates back to Democritus, a Greek philosopher who lived in the 5th century B.C, rose to prominence during the Scientific Revolution. Seventeenth century philosopher Thomas H...
Consciousness
Philosopher John Searle talks about consciousness, noting that for consciousness to exist, there must be behavior in a causal structure--not simply behavior alone. As an example, Professor Searle talks about his radio which he says provides intellig...
The Turing Test
Philosopher Hilary Putnam discusses the Turing test and explains why he doesn't think it's a valid method by which to establish that a machine can be considered conscious and capable of thinking.
The Irreducibility of Consciousness
Philosopher John Searle talks about reduction, and details a number of the scientific phenomena that are what he calls "textbook models of reduction." Some of these include color, light, and the heat of a gas. Professor Searle goes on to say that it...
The Realism vs. Anti-Realism Debate (Part 2)
Philosopher John Searle talks about the anti-realist view that we never actually perceive the real world and instead only perceive our own perceptions of that world. Professor Searle argues that this is incorrect, that we do, in fact, have direct pe...
The Realism vs. Anti-Realism Debate (Part 1)
Philosopher John Searle talks about what he calls a persistent error among western philosophers since the Greeks--namely, the notion that the external world is not real in and of itself, but instead is dependent on human minds and human consciousnes...
The Mind and the Body
Philosopher John Searle explains that when the body (including, of course, the brain) dies, the mind and the self die at the same time. He rejects the notion that there is something else, what some would call the soul, that endures despite the death...
The Mind-Body Problem
Philosopher John Searle explores "the mind-body problem." He begins by talking about the perspective of Descartes and others who viewed the mind and the body as totally separate and distinct areas. Professor Searle then goes on to look at how the mi...