Well, I’m back home in Wellfleet after a splendid three-day weekend on Star Island. (The high point of the weekend was a tribute performance we gave on Saturday night in honor of the late Walter Becker, consisting of a baker’s dozen of Steely Dan’s greatest hits. (It would have been impossible to get that together in such short order — Steely Dan is difficult music! — were it not for the presence of some really outstanding musical pros in our little circle of friends.)
I won’t be home for long — on Thursday the lovely Nina and I are off to Vienna for about ten days to visit with our daughter, her husband, and our little grandson Liam, now a toddler (as of about a week ago).
I’m afraid content may be sparse while we’re away. To be honest, it was so nice to get completely away from news and politics last weekend that I have little eagerness to dig back in. I did notice, however, that Bill Vallicella has again taken up the problem of consciousness — and, with the subject being an old hobby-horse of mine, and his comment-box being open, I joined the conversation. Bill and I have been on opposite sides of this for at least a decade now — I think that the physical brain probably, somehow, gives rise to consciousness, and he doesn’t — but I’m always glad to have another go at it. We’ll see.
6 Comments
Stay safe in Europe Malcolm
Have a safe trip
Be sure to watch your wallet, purse, and similar items; there are alas quite a few good thieves in Prague and perhaps Vienna.
Malcolm,
You misprepresented what we were discussing, namely whether qualia can be identified with brain states.
Be that as it may. I mainly just wanted to see if your quirky spam bot will let me in.
Strange! It let me in right off. Didn’t have to jump through even one hoop.
Yes, Bill, I’ve changed the security plugin.
As for our discussion, I don’t think I did misinterpret your argument. If by “identified with” you mean “identical to”, then I agree: qualia are not identical to a brain’s complete state, any more than lightning is, in a strict sense, identical to a thunderstorm.
My point was more subtle than that, and I think you and Jacques misinterpreted it. I will try to make it clearer in a different post. (I’m on the road for a few days, so it may have to wait.)