Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Samuel Alexander, Edmund O. Wilson and Anil Seth

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24 ideas

7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 6. Criterion for Existence
3534 To be is to have causal powers [Alexander,S]
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 3. Levels of Reality
5311 If observation goes up a level, we expect the laws of the lower level to remain in force [Wilson,EO]
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 5. Universals as Concepts
5312 A child first sees objects as distinct, and later as members of groups [Wilson,EO]
11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 4. Belief / a. Beliefs
5309 Beliefs are really enabling mechanisms for survival [Wilson,EO]
15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 8. Brain
23513 Single neurons can carry out complex functions [Seth]
23514 The cerbellum has a huge number of neurons, but little involvement in consciousness [Seth]
15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 1. Consciousness / e. Cause of consciousness
23516 Maybe a system is conscious if the whole generates more information than its parts [Seth]
16. Persons / C. Self-Awareness / 2. Knowing the Self
23519 The self is embodied, perspectival, volitional, narrative and social [Seth, by PG]
17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 6. Epiphenomenalism
14494 Epiphenomenalism is like a pointless nobleman, kept for show, but soon to be abolished [Alexander,S]
3398 Epiphenomenalism makes the mind totally pointless [Alexander,S]
18. Thought / B. Mechanics of Thought / 6. Artificial Thought / a. Artificial Intelligence
23518 Modern AI is mostly machine-based pattern recognition [Seth]
20. Action / B. Preliminaries of Action / 2. Willed Action / a. Will to Act
23517 Volition is felt as doing what you want, with possible alternatives, and a source from within [Seth]
22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / d. Ethical theory
5310 Philosophers study the consequences of ethics instead of its origins [Wilson,EO]
22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / d. Biological ethics
23515 Human exceptionalism plagues biology, and most other human thinking [Seth]
22187 Genetic behaviours that have enhanced human success include aggression, rape and xenophobia [Wilson,EO, by Okasha]
22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / e. Human nature
5313 The rules of human decision-making converge and overlap in a 'human nature' [Wilson,EO]
22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / f. Altruism
5316 We undermine altruism by rewarding it, but we reward it to encourage it [Wilson,EO]
5318 Pure hard-core altruism based on kin selection is the enemy of civilisation [Wilson,EO]
23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 1. Contractarianism
5317 The actor is most convincing who believes that his performance is real [Wilson,EO]
24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / c. A unified people
20662 The biology of societies: kin selection, parenting, mating; status, territory, contracts [Wilson,EO]
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 2. Natural Purpose / c. Purpose denied
5308 The only human purpose is that created by our genetic history [Wilson,EO]
27. Natural Reality / G. Biology / 3. Evolution
5314 Cultural evolution is Lamarckian and fast, biological evolution is Darwinian and slow [Wilson,EO]
5315 Over 99 percent of human evolution has been in the hunter-gatherer phase [Wilson,EO]
29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 1. Religious Commitment / a. Religious Belief
5320 It is estimated that mankind has produced 100,000 religions [Wilson,EO]