In a message dated 11/30/08 12:59:19 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> So how do you demonstrate the immateriality of consciousness? How do you > demonstrate the immateriality of anything at all? > I'm ready to say no one can prove it, any more than they can prove the existence of a material world. Dualists, who believe the "world" contains two kinds of objects -- notional and material -- tend to take the non-solipsist, "realist" view when it comes to the material world: Philosophy for each person begins with the things that person unalterably BELIEVES. Such a dualist knows he can't "prove" there are material rocks and other human bodies "out there", but it's an unshakable conviction in his mind, and, he says, if you honestly assert you don't believe there are, the conversation ends there. Similarly, assume the dualist breaks a leg. A neurologist shows him a scan of his brain, and points at a wriggling neural plexus and says, "That's the pain in your knee." The dualist is likely to say, "Like hell that's my pain!" "Sure it is," says the neurologist. "And over here, this wriggling plexus is your worry that you'll never play football again." And it goes on like that, with the neurologist pointing at bits of material flesh and asserting they are feelings, and the dualist not buying a bit of it. Many dualists will readily concede a causal connection between the material nerve and the immaterial consciousness. But, they would say, a pinched nerve and the pain from a pinched nerve are two different entities. ************** Life should be easier. So should your homepage. Try the NEW AOL.com. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity& ncid=emlcntaolcom00000002)
