#5 - The Source of Meaning (part 1)

2020-11-03

In this double episode, Geoff Allen tackles an ambitious ‘five birds, one stone’. He discusses the self, free will, intentionality, the flow of time and the meaning of life – all under one umbrella. What unites these topics is an apparent mismatch between: the first-person experience of human life, and the third-person descriptions of empirical science. In each case, there is a clash between the first-person and the third-person perspectives. Why do we have a subjective sense of self? How can we have ...

What unites these topics is an apparent mismatch between: the first-person experience of human life, and the third-person descriptions of empirical science. In each case, there is a clash between the first-person and the third-person perspectives.

Why do we have a subjective sense of self? How can we have any freedom to choose our actions? And how do these first-person experiences match up with the third-person descriptions of physics, biology and evolution?

To answer all of these questions, we must practise ‘naturalised’ or ‘naturalistic’ philosophy! We must refer only to natural entities and processes – which means no supernatural or non-physical claims. No souls, no gods, no spooky (non-physical) forces. Buckle up, folks.

A bibliography for each episode is available here: https://geoffallenwriting.wordpress.com/2020/10/06/extrapolator-bibliography/

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