Michele Pasin / Quotes

Dualism versus the conservation of energy

It seems impossible to make substance dualism consistent with modern physics. Physics says that the amount of matter/energy in the universe is constant; but…

Mind: A Brief Introduction (John R. Searle) #dualism #physics #science

Nature is radically contingent

nature is radically contingent. Many of the most important explanatory principles in science are by no means intuitive or obvious. Think of the Schroedinger…

Mind: A Brief Introduction (John R. Searle) #nature #science #physics

Buildings around the same emptiness

Akong offers a better explanation of what might survive death by use of an analogy. Ultimate reality is like an empty space. Individuals are like buildings…

The Ego Trick (baggini, Julian) #reincarnation #metaphor #self #Buddhism

Facets of a gem with nothing in the centre

it is true that we could talk of multiple selves or multi-faceted selves, but the former is just more truthful than the latter. She illustrates this with the…

The Ego Trick (baggini, Julian) #multiple-selves #self #metaphor

Hofstadter's marble in the envelopes

example of this given by Douglas Hofstadter, another writer who is keen to talk of illusions, describing the self as ‘a mirage that perceived itself, and of…

The Ego Trick (baggini, Julian) #self #illusion #metaphor

Ideas for a visualization system; open challenges for digital philosophy

Such a system would facilitate interaction with the encyclopedia for expert and novice users alike. Experts could see the “big picture” of an idea or…

From Encyclopedia To Ontology: Toward Dynamic Representation Of The Discipline Of Philosophy #philosophy #philosophers #metaphor #disciplines #idea