Mark and Wes further explore J.J.C. Smart's "Sensations and Brain Processes" (1959). Place had established that it's not the meanings of the words "brain" and "mind" that show their identity; they're metaphysically identical despite this difference in words. Start with part one. However, Smart claims that when referring to a mental state, a speaker is unknowingly still Continue Reading …
NEM#261: Joan as Policewoman’s Living Growth
Joan Wasser started as violinist/support member in the 90s for The Dambuilders and then for Mind Science of the Mind and Antony and the Johnsons. In the mid-90s, she co-led a band called Black Beetle that released nothing, but taught her songwriting. She's had 13 solo releases (7 original albums, 2 of covers, 2 collaborations, 1 live, 1 EP), as she has continued to guest and Continue Reading …
PMP#231: Euphoric Teens
We discuss high school drama TV shows and films in light of the genre-breaking, star-birthing teen drama Euphoria (3 seasons, 2019-2026), created by Sam Levinson after HBO got the rights to an Israeli drama that provided the basic situation. Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al touch on Riverdale, Skins, Degrassi, John Hughes films, Buffy, Saved By the Bell, Less Than Zero, Continue Reading …
Ep. 401: Mind/Brain Identity Theory (U.T. Place, J.J.C. Smart) (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On U.T. Place's "Is Consciousness a Brain Process?" (1956) and J.J.C. Smart's "Sensations and Brain Processes" (1959). Featuring Mark, Wes, Seth, and Chris Heath. Is there some a priori reason for denying that the mind can actually be the brain? Obviously those two words don't mean the same Continue Reading …
Ep. 401: Mind/Brain Identity Theory (U.T. Place, J.J.C. Smart) (Part Two for Supporters)
Finishing up U.T. Place's "Is Consciousness a Brain Process?" (1956) and starting on J.J.C. Smart's "Sensations and Brain Processes" (1959). Start with part one. Place (presaging Dennett), argues against the "phenomenological fallacy," which involves recognizing people's descriptions of the appearances of things as descriptions of the actual state of the world in a Continue Reading …
Ep. 401: Mind/Brain Identity Theory (U.T. Place, J.J.C. Smart) (Part One for Supporters)
On U.T. Place's "Is Consciousness a Brain Process?" (1956) and J.J.C. Smart's "Sensations and Brain Processes" (1959). Featuring Mark, Wes, Seth, and Chris Heath. Is there some a priori reason for denying that the mind can actually be the brain? Obviously those two words don't mean the same thing, but can we think of them as a single thing under two descriptions (e.g. Continue Reading …
PvI Interlude: Philosophy vs. Theater w/ David Epstein
In between seasons here, we've got some business, which is that not too long after our Redacted episode, I did a follow-up episode with that same acting coach, whom I can now reveal to be my old high-school classmate David L. Epstein, who runs Actor Class off of Times Square, after many years acting, directing, and writing plays. He was also the lead in the Partially Examined Continue Reading …
Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content, including a supporter-exclusive part three. Continuing from part one (and before that, ep. 399) on Consciousness Explained (1991), ch. 12-14. We continue discussing Dennett's response in ch. 14 to Nagel's "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" which gets us in a whole conversation about animal Continue Reading …
Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part Three for Supporters)
Mark and Seth rejoin to complete our treatment of Consciousness Explained. We focus on Dennett's response to Frank Jackson's "Mary the Color Scientist" example: Is there really a difference between experiencing something and making a judgment about it? Dennett says that there's no information difference, just potentially a different mode of getting information, developed Continue Reading …
Closereads: Late Dennett on Consciousness (Part One)
Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get previous and future installments of this podcast. On "Are We Explaining Consciousness Yet?" (2001), which was published along with various papers by psychologists, neurologists, and other researchers to discuss the "growing consensus" about the architecture of the mind, which Dennett takes to be concordant Continue Reading …
PMP#230: Gettin’ Furious
To begin our new season, we're up to the moment covering the first season of Elizabeth Meriwether's Hulu crime drama Furious, about an abused detective pursuing, and ultimately relating to, an abused revenge killer. Note that the first half of this is spoiler-free, so curious folks who haven't yet seen the show are welcome on this one. How does this relate to other revenge Continue Reading …
Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing from ep. 399 on Dan Dennett's Consciousness Explained (1991), now focusing on ch. 12-14, and again featuring Mark, Seth, Dylan, and Chris Heath. Sponsor: Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health. We've given the basic outline of Continue Reading …
Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one (and before that, ep. 399) on Consciousness Explained (1991), ch. 12-14. We continue discussing Dennett's response in ch. 14 to Nagel's "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" which gets us in a whole conversation about animal consciousness. What is it like to be any languageless creature? Dennett thinks we can say a lot of things about what it can't be like, Continue Reading …
Ep. 400: Dennett Rejects Qualia (Part One for Supporters)
Continuing from ep. 399 on Dan Dennett's Consciousness Explained (1991), now focusing on ch. 12-14, and again featuring Mark, Seth, Dylan, and Chris Heath. We've given the basic outline of Dennett's positive view of what consciousness is: By advocating the multiple drafts model, he's argued that consciousness is essentially a matter of information availability, and that it's Continue Reading …
NEM#260: Jacqui Hunt (Single Gun Theory Singer) Now Master of Her Synth Domain
Jacqui rose to fame with the Australian electronic dance band Single Gun Theory (three albums released 1987, 1991, 1994), did some one-off collaborations (e.g. singing for Delirium), and released her first solo album in 2008. After some solo singles (and an album as one half of CiiVE), she's now released her second solo album, Desiderium. We discuss "Planet" (co-written with Continue Reading …
PvI#124: Navel Evaluation (Our Season 5 Finale)
We wrap up Mary's first year with the podcast, and changes are afoot for our upcoming season, but why? Let's explore to the point of physical discomfort! We act out an odd annual employee review, a dramatic pitch for a new play, and the navel-gazing club. We talk about celebrating and escalating, high points of season 5, how comedy is never a matter of "trying to be funny" Continue Reading …
Ep. 399: Dan Dennett’s Model of Mind (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing from part one on Consciousness Explained, ch. 5, with some reference to ch. 12. Sponsor: Get your free trial at shopify.com/pel. Dennett seemed to be saying that the phi-phenomenon (where we see a dot as having moved and transformed into another dot, whereas it was really just Continue Reading …
Closereads: Donald Davidson on Self-Knowledge (Part One)
Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get previous and future installments of this podcast. On "First Person Authority" (1984). What warrants our superior knowledge of our own mental states, as oppose to those of others? Why is this not obvious? Read along with us. You can choose to watch this on video: Continue Reading …
PMP#229: What’s Spider-Man Up To?
It's been 2019 since our last Spider-Man episode, so what's with the new film (Brand New Day), and the Spider-Verse, and Nicholas Cage being Spider Noir? Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn and Al discuss in this, our SEASON FINALE! Follow us @law_writes, @sarahlynbruck, @MarkLinsenmayer. Due to supernatural events, the world has forgotten Al's social media presence. Get more at Continue Reading …
Ep. 399: Dan Dennett’s Model of Mind (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Daniel C. Dennett's Consciousness Explained (Ch. 1, 5, and a bit of 12; ep. 400 will complete ch. 12 along with 13). Featuring Mark, Seth, Dylan, and Chris Heath. Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. What is the mind? Dennett claims Continue Reading …