In another thread, Krimel said:
.... Seriously talking about the inanimate world in terms of agency, preference
and "betterness" is a retreat into a world of spirits, and thunder gods.
Animism is universal in primitive peoples and small children. Grown-ups ought
to know better.
dmb quotes a grown-up who ought to know better, talking about other grown-ups
who also ought to know better:
"Diderot’s work D’Alembert’s Dream (1769) put forth a very explicit panpsychist
view: “this faculty of sensation…is a general and essential quality of matter”
(1769/1937: 49). Throughout the dialogue one finds repeated references to the
“general sensitivity of matter.” At one point he observes that “[f]rom the
elephant to the flea, from the flea to the sensitive living atom, the origin of
all, there is no point in nature but suffers and enjoys” (ibid: 80). In the
century following the French Enlightenment, panpsychist thought developed most
rapidly in Germany. Among its more prominent advocates: Herder, Schopenhauer,
Goethe, Fechner, Lotze, Hartmann, Mach, and Haeckel."
"Charles Peirce’s article, “Man’s Glassy Essence” (1892), begins by noting
“[T]here is fair analogical inference that all protoplasm feels. It not only
feels but exercises all the functions of mind” (1892/1992: 343). And yet
protoplasm is simply complex chemistry, a particular arrangement of molecules.
We are therefore compelled “[to] admit that physical events are but degraded or
undeveloped forms of psychical events” (ibid: 348). Peirce then laid out his
own dual-aspect theory of mind: [A]ll mind is directly or indirectly connected
with all matter, and acts in a more or less regular way; so that all mind more
or less partakes of the nature of matter. [...] Viewing a thing from the
outside, [...] it appears as matter. Viewing it from the inside, [...] it
appears as consciousness (ibid: 349)."
"Freeman Dyson: “The laws [of physics] leave a place for mind in the
description of every molecule… In other words, mind is already inherent in
every electron, and the processes of human consciousness differ only in degree
and not in kind…” (1979: 249).
David Bohm: “That which we experience as mind…will in a natural way ultimately
reach the level of the wavefunction and of the ‘dance’ of the particles. There
is no unbridgeable gap or barrier between any of these levels. … It is implied
that, in some sense, a rudimentary consciousness is present even at the level
of particle physics” (1986: 131).
Panpsychism enters the 21st century with vigor and diversity of thought. A
number of recent works have focused attention on it. If we look back to the
year 1996 we find two books that contributed to a resurrection of sorts. First,
Chalmers’ The Conscious Mind lays out a naturalistic dualism theory of mind in
which he suggests (with an apparent diffidence) that mind can be associated
with ubiquitous information states—following Bateson and Bohm, though without
citing their panpsychist views. His relatively detailed discussion of
panpsychism sparked a resurgence of discussion on the matter, and contributed
to a wider interest."
If a position can be defeated by simply quoting a dictionary or encyclopedia,
then that position is very weak and it is very easily defeated.
Krimel, you need to realize that your strange mixture of smug condescension and
profound ignorance will not serve you well in graduate school. You might not
believe it, but I have absolutely no wish to see you fail or get thrown out on
your ear. But that's what's gonna happen unless you grow up and get your
intellectual shit together. You didn't ask for this advice and I realize that
it's not exactly sugar-coated but if you want to avoid disaster, I really think
you ought to re-evaluate your attitudes. If you continue to trade in straw men
and slander, I'm sure you'll be sorry. You desperately need to find some
humility or you will be humiliated. It's a harsh truth but if it helps you
avoid that kind of unhappiness, then this is very friendly advice.
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