International Society for Philosophers
Wisdom begins with wonder
PHILOSOPHY PATHWAYS ISSN 2043-0728[Home]
Issue No. 211 26th April 2017
CONTENTS
Edited by Georgios Pentzaropoulos
I. 'Materialism, Non-Materialism and the Problem of Consciousness' by Catherine Nickford
II. 'A Theory of Useful Belief' by Charles Sullivan
III. 'Concept of Reality' by Paul Arendse
From the List Manager
IV. Robert Pirsig R.I.P. 1928-2017
V. Recent Geometrical Work by Clifford Singer
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EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
This issue of Philosophy Pathways contains three articles which would be of interest both to philosophers and scientists. The first article is entitled "Materialism, Non-Materialism and the Problems of Consciousness" by Catherine Nickford. The second article, by Charles Sullivan, describes the "Theory of Useful Belief". The third and final article, by Paul Arendse, focuses on the "Concept of Reality". Key questions in this issue are: How do we interact with the external world? Can we bridge the gap between the physical and mental worlds? What is consciousness? What is the significance of information in connection with reality? Can our beliefs be stable enough to qualify as knowledge? Our authors revisit such questions throwing them into new light [...]
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(c) Georgios Constantine Pentzaropoulos 2017
Email: gcpent@econ.uoa.gr
About the editor: https:---
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I. 'MATERIALISM, NON-MATERIALISM AND THE PROBLEM OF CONSCIOUSNESS' BY CATHERINE NICKFORD
Metaphysicians have often tended to project their ethical ideals and intuitions into the ultimate structure of reality. This has led to the positing of numerous metaphysical entities whose nature is incoherent with known universal laws, and this is the usual defense made by reductionists in their approach to mind-body dualism. However, the variants between the corporeal and the incorporeal are not necessarily explicable in reductionist terms. In this paper, I will try to analyze and compare in which way consciousness is irreducible to, yet by necessity linked with its ontological physical correlates [...]
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(C) Catherine Nickford 2014, 2017
Email: catherine.nickford@yahoo.com
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II. 'A THEORY OF USEFUL BELIEF' BY CHARLES SULLIVAN
This article describes the Theory of Useful Belief. One of the conclusions of the theory is that an individual must not hold a belief until it has been tested against their own personal experiences. This principle of course also applies to this article; you must not accept what I have written as true, but rather use it to stimulate the development of your own beliefs. The motto of the Royal Society is Nullius in verba which means nothing upon another's word and I endorse this advice. You must not believe anything that you are about to read [...]
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(c) Charles A. Sullivan 2013, 2017
Email: ca.sullivan@sky.com
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III. 'CONCEPT OF REALITY' BY PAUL ARENDSE
In the essay entitled Concept of Reality the author probes for a comprehension of reality, the nature of its evolution, and if life is an orderly, evolving and continuous process with an innate consciousness of purpose. The paper formulates a conceptual framework that describes how reality consciously creates the evolutionary conditions for life through its own internal mechanisms of information and knowledge management systems that evolves into reality's consciousness of being. The work expounds a view that the cosmos operates as a bio-knowledge matrix that holographically photosynthesizes the different stages of reality, which informs the continuous evolution of higher states of consciousness within the cosmos [..]
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(c) Paul Arendse 2013, 2017
Email: Paul.Arendse@treasury.gov.za
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IV. ROBERT PIRSIG R.I.P. 1928-2017
I was saddened to hear yesterday of the death of Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I heard the news from the professional philosophy e-list Philos-L. Coincidentally, the deaths of two other philosophers were announced on the same day: Eva Picardi, Professor of Philosophy of Language at the Alma Mater Studiorum, Bologna Italy, and Hubert L. Dreyfus, for nearly 50 years a professor of philosophy at UC Berkeley, USA... Robert Pirsig was a big influence on my philosophical development [...]
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(c) Geoffrey Klempner 2017
Email: klempner@fastmail.net
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V. RECENT GEOMETRICAL WORK BY CLIFFORD SINGER
Clifford Singer was one of the early subscribers to Philosophy Pathways -- as it was then, the 'Pathways Newsletter' -- joining our e-list back in 2001. Over the years Clifford has kept me up-to-date with his interesting and highly original work at the interface of geometry, mathematics and fine art.
Here are details of Clifford's latest exhibition in the USA illustrated with one of his art works, 'Oscillating Circle with Neuberg Curve':
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(c) Geoffrey Klempner 2017
Email: klempner@fastmail.net
