Intentionality
Philosopher John Searle talks about intentionality ("the capacity of the mind to be directed at or to be about or of objects and states of affairs of the world other than the mind...") and consciousness, which he believes are the most important prop...
Is Mind Distinct from Body?: Reductionism and Consciousness
The subjective first-person nature of conscious experience resists being explained in objective third-person terms. There may be objective things going on in the brain, but what is truly interesting is what happens subjectively. Materialists compare...
What is Philosophy?: Relationship of Philosophy to Other Fields of Thought
What is philosophy? How is it related to other fields of thought? How is it different? In response to these questions, nine preeminent scholars create an insightful view of philosophy and the role it plays in contemporary society.
What is Human Nature?: Biology's Challenge to Traditional Western View of Human Nature
In the 17th and 18th centuries, scientists are fascinated with collecting specimens and classifying species. However, It will be Charles Darwin who creates a new picture of nature. In the 1830s he travels to the Galapagos Islands to research both li...
Is Mind Distinct from Body?: Gilbert Ryle and Logical Behaviorism
With the emergence of the science of psychology in the 20th century, it is believed that thoughts and feelings can be translated into objective units scientists can observe. One advocate, British philosopher Gilbert Ryle who wrote a famous put-down ...
Is Mind Distinct from Body?: Testing Computers against the Human Mind
With he advent of new computer technologies, enthusiasts predict that soon computers will do everything minds that can. In 1951, computer pioneer Alan Turing proposed a simple test for judging when a computer has reached the level of a human mind. W...
What is Real?: Anti-realists' Thesis
Anti-realists contend that we shape the external world into the reality we know through our conceptual systems, language, and thought processes. Things are as we name them, parts and wholes as we define them. This applies to all reality in the unive...
What is Real?: Idealist's View of Reality,The
Writing somewhat later in the Scientific Revolution, Bish George Berkeley sought to crush the threat that materialism posed to religion by arguing that reality is made up entirely of ideas. Since we know about the world only through the ideas or sen...
What is Real?: Realists' Side of the Debate with Anti-realists, The
The distinction between trying to capture the true nature of reality versus defining it in human terms has remained central to recent philosophy. The two sides in the debate are the realists and anti-realists. To realists, reality is objective and e...
Language and Religion
Philosopher John Searle talks about what he calls "the language game," and how it's used today with regard to religion and God. Professor Searle says that many people go through the motions with religion, using language to express true belief when, ...