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Mind Chat with Philip Goff and Keith Frankish

Philip Goff is a philosopher who thinks consciousness pervades the universe. Keith Frankish is a philosopher who thinks consciousness* doesn't even exist. From their very different perspectives, Keith and Philip interview leading scientists and philosophers of consciousness, engaging and debating in a friendly way in pursuit of truth. Mind Chat aims to be highly accessible, allowing those with no background in science and/or philosophy to get a grip on the cutting edge of the field.

(*To be more precise, Keith thinks *phenomenal* consciousness doesn't exist; listen to find out what this is.)

Mind Chat

Andy Clark is a leading and incredibly influential philosopher and cognitive scientist. Among other things, Andy has done pioneering work on predictive processing and the extended mind thesis. Here Keith and Philip discuss with Andy his most recent book 'The Experience Machine.' 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/may/04/the-experience-machine-how-our-minds-predict-and-shape-reality-review

Andy Clark: The Experience Machine

Philip recently went public with his conversion to a heretical form of Christianity (see article and video below). In this episode Keith and Philip discuss this and open up to Q&A. 
 • Why This Famous Atheist Became a Prog... 
https://aeon.co/.../i-now-think-a-her....
IMPORTANT NOTE: I accidentally said that "Jesus" didn't approve of gay sex, but I meant to say "Paul." Philip

Philip Goff & Keith Frankish: Heretical Christianity

Annaka Harris is author of bestselling book "Conscious" and writer and producer of the forthcoming audio documentary series "Lights On." In this episode we mainly focused on panpsychism, although we also touched on free will and the self. Annaka is sympathetic to panpsychism, so Philip and Annaka compared their reasons for taking the view seriously, whilst Keith and Annaka tried to work out why they disagreed.

Annaka Harris: Is Consciousness Everywhere?

Can taking psychedelics teach us more about the mind than science and philosophy? Is it rational to trust what mystical experiences seem to be telling us about ultimate reality? These are questions Keith and Philip would like the answers to, and apparently Sarah Lane-Ritchie and Aidan Lyon have them. Join us to find out what they are!

Sarah Lane-Ritchie & Aidan Lyon: What Can Psychedelics Tell Us About Mind & Reality?

Kevin Mitchell is Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He is also the author of the wonderful recent book 'Free Agents: How Evolution Gave us Free will', a robust defence of the reality of free will. Between the three of us, we aim to definitely establish whether or not humans are free.

For more on Kevin Mitchell:

https://press.princeton.edu/books/har...

https://www.kjmitchell.com/

Timings

0:00 – Amusing Banter

4:41 – Introducing Kevin Mitchell

6:07 – Kevin’s view

16:12 – The Philosophy of Free Will

29:03 – Keith Probes Kevin

51:25 – Philip and Keith disagree on how to interpret Kevin’s position

1:01:00 – Does quantum mechanics help?

1:24:12 – Keith can’t help himself

1:30:24 – Philip mutes Keith

1:30:57 – Audience Q&A

1:43:33 – Final banter and Mind Chat catchphrase

Kevin Mitchell: Do We Have Free Will?

Recently Philip and Sabine Hossenfelder had a discussion on Twitter about the relationship between science and the entities referred to in scientific theories: https://twitter.com/Philip_Goff/status/1725487476695830778. We're going to interview philosopher of science doctoral candidate Cat Gillen (Durham University) on the debates between realists and instrumentalists in the philosophy of science.
To support this podcast, please consider donating to our Patreon, including joining the Mind Chat community that discusses each month's episode with Philip and Keith following the broadcast: https://www.patreon.com/MindChat

Cat Gillen: Do Electrons Exist?

Keith and Philip will discuss Philip's new book 'Why? The Purpose of the Universe.' https://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Purpose-Universe-Philip-Goff/dp/0198883765

Halloween Special! The Purpose of the Universe

Donald Hoffman is a cognitive scientist at UC Irvine and author of 'The Case Against Reality.' He believes that the world we experience is an illusion, whilst ultimate reality is composed of networks of conscious agents. Keith and Philip probe Professor Hoffman's view from their very different perspectives on the nature of consciousness.

Here's the paper we discuss at length which argues that Donald's argument from evolution is self-defeating: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-022-04021-1

Here's Donald's recent co-written paper in which the authors attempt to ground physics in networks of conscious agents: https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/25/1/129

Donald Hoffman: What is Reality?

Eric Schwitzgebel is professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. His research interests include philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind, moral psychology, classical Chinese philosophy, epistemology, metaphilosophy, and metaphysics. He has also written a number of pieces of philosophical science fiction, which have been published in leading science fiction magazines.

Eric Schwitzgebel : Is the United States Conscious?

Many philosophers worry about David Chalmers' 'hard problem' of how brains produce consciousness. But do ordinary people who haven't been exposed to the peculiarities of academic philosopher share Chalmers' intuition that there's a problem here? Professor Edouard Machery (University of Pittsburgh-Carnegie Mellon University) answers 'no.' Machery thinks the concept of 'phenomenal consciousness' that gives rise to these intuitions is an invention of academic philosophers, and he's built an empirical case to support his view, based on interviews with the general public. Dr Michelle Liu (University of Hertfordshire-Monash) has responded to the arguments of Machery and others, suggesting they may be ignoring to polysemous nature of language. Keith and Philip will host a friendly debate/discussion between Machery and Liu, whilst trying to resist the temptation to bring the discussion back to panpsychism and illusionism.

Michelle Liu and Edouard Machery: Is the 'Hard Problem of Consciousness' Nonsense Invented by Philosophers?

Professor Frank Jackson (Australian National University) came up with one of the most influential arguments against materialism about consciousness, a version of the 'knowledge argument', involving the story of Black and White Mary. Ironically, Jackson later recanted and is now a committed materialist. Keith and Philip will discuss with Frank the knowledge argument, why he changed his mind, and what he thinks about consciousness now. (Philip secretly hopes to bring Frank back to the fold of anti-materialists, but it's a long shot).

Frank Jackson: The Greatest Argument Against Materialism

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