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Body Consciousness

Joel Parthemore’s well considered review of Richard Shusterman’s A Philosophy of Mindfulness and Somaesthetics. The current fashion, in certain circles of cognitive science and philosophy of mind, is to talk up the importance of embodiment and enshrine it in lots of well-considered theories without grasping the irony of pursuing what is, on the surface at…

Social Identity

In today’s Guardian there is an article entitled Who do you think I am? with the tag line “It’s all too easy to categorise people but it isn’t inevitable. We can still consider the alternatives.” The writer is quite correct so say that: Identity is a contemporary buzzword and goes onto list instances of its…

The Individual in the Fragile Sciences: Sociality

I received a message from Rob Wilson one of the most talented and broad-ranging philosopher-scientists around. He was updating me on what he’s been up to of late. He brought two things to my attention. 1. Rob has begun drafting the third instalment to his trilogy which he’s entitled Blood is Thicker than Water, nicht wahr? Terra Socialis: The Individual…

I am a strange loop

Wonderful to see Douglas Hofstadter’s book I Am a Strange Loop win an LA Times Book Award. What passess as the literati these days needs to be exposed to a mind that is highly cultured, literary and that has unforced conceptual depth. See the Scientific American and the JASSS reviews from last year. Douglas Hofstadter

Ballet and Brain

Two of my passions – ballet and brain – caught my eye in the unlikely guise of a review and preview of Wayne McGregor’s Entity  at Sadler’s Wells. Rather than McGregor’s ideas being filtered through a faintly comprehending dance journalist: Technology fiend McGregor is engaged on a continuing investigation into brain and body. The ultimate goal is to…

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…