Philosophy
Does our perception of the world reflect reality? Solving the problem of consciousness
When I see red, it’s the most religious experience. Seeing red just results from photons of a certain frequency hitting ...
Viewpoint: Did this philosopher disprove evolutionary psychology? ‘No—certainly not’
Subrena Smith, an assistant professor of philosophy at The University of New Hampshire, has made a bold claim in the ...
Free will doesn’t exist? Why we shouldn’t be swayed by this ‘flawed experiment’
One of the most fervent of late 19th century materialists, T.H. Huxley, described human beings as “conscious automata” with no ...
‘Genealogical anxiety’ and why questioning the genesis of your core beliefs ‘can liberate you’
I recently encountered a term for a syndrome that has bugged me since childhood: genealogical anxiety. The phrase was coined by ...
Experiencing self-awareness: How children discover who they are
[I remember] when I first became self-conscious, aware of myself as something weird, distinct from the rest of the world, ...
Do humans have free will? Neuroscientists seek solution to this ‘philosophical puzzle’
Clinical neuroscientists and neurologists have identified the brain networks responsible for this sense of free will. There seems to be ...
Why the Enlightenment wasn’t so enlightened after all
We view the Enlightenment period as a period of rationalism and reason, but this is far from the truth ...
Is conscious thought just an illusion?
Philosopher Peter Carruthers insists that conscious thought, judgment and volition are illusions. … [Carruthers:] Thoughts such as decisions and judgments ...