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Extension of a philosophical theory of identity

It was a nice surprise to see that philosopher of social science, Daniel Little, has joined the blogosphere. Motivated by (but not responding directly to) his posting “Who has social identity” I offer these thoughts.    Philosophy has only recently begun to turn its attention to the notion of social identity, territory that sociologists, social anthropologists and historians…

The ‘Hard Problem’ – Consciousness, Experience, and Mind

This past Monday I presented a talk to the Advanced Seminar Program at the Chicago-based Zygon Center for Religion and Science and editorial home of the journal Zygon: Journal of Science & Religion. My host was Zygon’s editor Phil Hefner. The theme of this year’s seminar was The ‘Hard Problem’ – Consciousness, Experience, and Mind – my talk dealt…

Supersizing the Mind

I read on Dave Chalmers’ weblog that he’s written the preface to Andy Clark’s forthcoming Supersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension. It’s very exciting news that a) there is a new book by Clark, perhaps the best stylist around and that b) Chalmers (and Clark) have returned to considering their thesis of active externalism ten years after…

Perspectives on Social Cognition

Here is the fully published special issue of Cognitive Systems Research Volume 9, Issues 1-2, March 2008   2. Introduction to the special issue “Perspectives on Social Cognition” Cognitive Systems Research, Volume 9, Issues 1-2, March 2008, Pages 1-4 Leslie Marsh and Christian Onof     3. Functionalism and mental boundaries Cognitive Systems Research, Volume 9, Issues…

Science Wars Revisted

Just the other day I was conversing with a biochemist friend of mine who works in R&D. We were discussing the entrenched attitude to science that still seems to prevail 12 years on from the so-called “Science Wars” of the mid-90s. On the one hand, there is a schizophrenic attitude emanating from the humanities and the social sciences: 1. that…

Robots

                                The Volume 18, Number 1 issue of Scientific American Reports is a special edition on robotics. The following articles feature:  1. Bill Gates’s “A Robot in Every Home” concentrates on such commonplace items as the vacuum cleaner and not the…