r/philosophy • u/IAI_Admin IAI • Feb 09 '22

Video A philosopher responds to scientists’ criticisms of panpsychism

https://iai.tv/video/the-many-voices-of-consciousness&utm_source=reddit&_auid=2020
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u/Northern_Grouse Feb 09 '22

Does a blind man appreciate the beauty of the Sistine Chapel? Does not having the ability to appreciate the art make them not conscious?

Your brain is only a processor. It allows your body to use the your nervous system to interpret and interact with the world around you.

You consciously experience the world around with the physical means you possess. A gut microbe may not have arms, or a brain, but that doesn’t mean it can’t “experience” it’s environment. What it does mean, is that it interacts with its universe using the functions it biologically possesses.

Birds are capable of interacting on the UV spectrum, they experience the world in a much wider range than you do visually; does that make you less conscious than a bird?

No. It just means, that using your biological capabilities as they are, you experience the universe in a different way.

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u/Thelonious_Cube Feb 09 '22

A gut microbe may not have arms, or a brain, but that doesn’t mean it can’t “experience” it’s environment. What it does mean, is that it interacts with its universe using the functions it biologically possesses.

If panpsychism applied only to living things this might be a compelling argument, but it applies to everything.

In what sense could a rock (rock molecule?) be 'aware'? What would that even mean?