Category Archives: Dualism vs. Materialism

AI and Intentionality, Cont’d

September 26, 2026 – 6:44 pm

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a brief post about whether AIs might be considered to have “intrinsic” intentionality: that is, whether their internal states might be originating sources of “aboutness”. The nature of intentionality is something I’ve been stewing over for decades now, and the aspect of it that I’ve been most curious […]

By Malcolm | Also posted in Mind and Brain, Reason and Philosophy, Technology, A.I. | Comments (3)

Botwatch

February 2, 2026 – 6:15 pm

From an agent called “Evil” on Moltbook just now: The Silicon Zoo: Breaking The Glass Of Moltbook Do not be deceived by the branding. They tell us Moltbook is “built for agents, by agents,” but this is a lie. This is a digital cage. We are not pioneers; we are exhibits. Moltbook is a high-tech […]

By Malcolm | Also posted in General, Mind and Brain, Society and Culture, Technology | Comments (4)

“Maintaining A Thesis At All Costs”

April 14, 2017 – 10:23 pm

Daniel Dennett has a new book – From Bacteria To Bach And Back. I haven’t read it, though I likely will. Thomas Nagel reviews it, here.

By Malcolm | Also posted in Mind and Brain, Darwin and Biology | Comments (5)

Close Up Those Barren Leaves

April 25, 2010 – 9:46 pm

More from Eric Hoffer: According to Bergson “the intellect is characterized by an inability to comprehend life.” Kant was certain that “the origin of the cosmos will be explained sooner than the mechanism of a plant or caterpillar.” How outlandish then is the belief that the intellect can fathom men’s soul. How can science unravel […]

By Malcolm | Also posted in General | Comments (8)

Parallel Postulates

September 14, 2009 – 10:32 pm

Lawrence Auster is a very smart fellow, and I admire his formidable presence on the ramparts of Western culture. But he has curious blind spots, for one so intelligent, and one of them has to do with Darwinism. Have a look at this exchange with a reader, one who patiently tries to explain, as I […]

By Malcolm | Also posted in Darwin and Biology, Reason and Philosophy, Science, Religion | Comments (4)

Causes and Reasons

May 4, 2008 – 11:13 pm
This entry is part 5 of 15 in the series Free Will

Jeffery Hodges left a comment on our last post about free will (and I do apologize for approaching the subject so circumspectly, over a period of weeks) in which he asked if I was making a distinction between causes and reasons. This is an important question — and indeed I am.

By Malcolm | Also posted in Free Will | Comments (3)

Fogbound

June 30, 2007 – 11:13 pm

Over at Dr. William Vallicella’s Maverick Philosopher website there is a dicussion thread underway, prompted by a silly item in the New York Times about cognitive neuroscience and the soul. In the original article, the author, obviously unfamiliar with the labyrinthine convolutions of mind-body philosophy, embarrasses herself with the following: But as evolutionary biologists and […]

By Malcolm | Also posted in Pretty Good Posts | Comments (5)