Tag

Philosophy

All articles tagged with #philosophy

biology2 days ago•17 min saved

Life with Intent: Rethinking Biological Agency

Quanta Magazine surveys whether ‘biological agency’—the idea that life acts with goals or reasons—is scientifically productive, weighing mechanistic, gene-centered explanations against views that organisms set proximal goals through context, learning, and interaction with their environment. The piece traces debates from Mayr and Monod to Baldwin’s effect and Lamarck, examines whether agency implies conscious deliberation, and argues for developing a formal, testable theory of agency that could unify biology with development, evolution, and future artificial agents.

via Quanta Magazine|

#agency #biology #evolution

science12 days ago•3 min saved

Conscious Minds Could Emerge in Alien Substrates, Researchers Argue

Philosophers Eric Schwitzgebel and Jeremy Pober argue that consciousness could arise in non-Earth-like materials, proposing ‘substrate flexibility’ means minds might exist in radically different substrates across the universe, with implications for AI and challenging Earth-centric views of consciousness.

via Futurism|

#aliens #artificial-intelligence #consciousness

technology23 days ago•46 min saved

MATCHA: Rebuilding Honest Writing in the Age of AI

Philosophy professor David Bourget introduces MATCHA, a beta tool that curbs AI cheating by recording students’ reading and drafting activity in a built‑in, whitelist‑controlled browser, using in‑person authorship‑assessment quizzes, and offering a supervised writing lab option, all while keeping AI assistance optional and aiming to preserve long‑form essay writing in philosophy.

via Daily Nous|

#ai #matcha #pedagogy

philosophy24 days ago•2 min saved

Cosmic Copernican Principle: Consciousness Might Not Be Earthbound

A new paper by Eric Schwitzgebel and Jeremy Pober argues consciousness could be substrate-flexible, arising in non-Earthly materials, and coins the term Copernican principle of consciousness to challenge Earth-centric views; while it does not prove alien minds exist or silicon minds qualify, it reframes the question as what kinds of systems can wake up at all and notes implications for AI and the search for non-biological minds.

via Universe Today|

#artificial-intelligence #consciousness #copernican-principle

philosophy25 days ago•13 min saved

Consciousness Beyond Brains: Minds in Plants and Slime Molds

The piece argues that consciousness may extend beyond brains, challenging the brain-centered view of mind. It highlights research (e.g., MINT Lab) that designs experiments not based on human cognition to distinguish genuine experience from mere reaction, and it discusses the Hard Problem's debates. The author suggests sentience could arise in diverse substrates—plants, slime molds, and other life—not just animals with brains, calling for a broader, less anthropocentric approach to understanding mind.

via IAI TV|

#brain-centrism #consciousness #mind

technology1 month ago•46 min saved

Reality as a VR Game? Scientist Suggests We Are Avatars

A scientist argues that reality might be a virtual reality game and that we could be avatars, prompting debate about evidence, consciousness, and the nature of existence.

via Yahoo|

#consciousness #philosophy #reality

technology1 month ago•47 min saved

Consciousness Isn’t a Bug in the Code: AI Won’t Be Truly Conscious, Mathematically

In a math-grounded argument, the Slate piece contends that modern AI simply performs massive calculations and creates the illusion of consciousness, just as Muybridge’s rapid-fire photos suggested movement without life. By viewing AI as a sequence of mathematical operations, the author argues there is no mechanism by which current neural networks can achieve true self-awareness or continuous, sentient experience, regardless of how impressive their outputs may seem.

via Slate|

#artificial-intelligence #consciousness #mathematics

technology2 months ago•2 min saved

Can Machines Feel What They Say? Rethinking AI Consciousness

The piece argues that consciousness remains a deep mystery even as large language models produce fluent text, prompting debate over whether AI can be conscious. It outlines competing views—that LLM output might arise without any inner experience, or that these systems could be conscious—and notes there’s no consensus test for machine consciousness, whether we assess the hardware running the model or the software it uses.

via Defector|

#ai #consciousness #large-language-models

awards2 months ago•23 min saved

Guggenheim 2026 Class Adds Three Philosophers

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced its 2026 fellows, including three philosophers—Alan Baker (Swarthmore), Kate Manne (Cornell), and Gina Schouten (Harvard)—out of nearly 5,000 applicants; 223 fellows across 55 disciplines will receive six to 12 months of unrestricted funding, with a full list available online.

via Daily Nous|

#alan-baker #awards #fellowships

science2 months ago•9 min saved

Consciousness as a Fundamental Feature of Reality

A leading neuroscientist argues that consciousness may not arise from brain activity but could be a fundamental aspect of reality, revisiting idealism and panpsychism and endorsing Integrated Information Theory as a framework to explain subjective experience.

via SciTechDaily|

#consciousness #integrated-information-theory #neuroscience

world3 months ago•18 min saved

Habermas dies at 96, leaving a lasting mark on modern philosophy

Jürgen Habermas, the German philosopher whose work on communication, rationality, and sociology shaped debates in philosophy and social theory, has died at age 96 in Germany.

via The Washington Post|

#books-and-literature #eu-germany-obit-habermas #general-news

world3 months ago•3 min saved

Legacy of democratic discourse: Jürgen Habermas dies at 96

Prominent German philosopher Jürgen Habermas has died at 96, leaving seven decades of influence on democracy theory, the rule of law, and European integration; famed for his work on the public sphere and democratic consensus, his ideas shaped debates across Germany and beyond, including critiques of political leaders. His last book, Things Needed to Get Better, appeared last December. He died in Starnberg near Munich and is survived by two of his three children.

via The Guardian|

#democracy #frankfurt-school #habermas

world3 months ago•14 min saved

End of an era in philosophy as Habermas dies at 96

Renowned German philosopher Jürgen Habermas has died at age 96, leaving a lasting impact on political philosophy and critical theory.

via AP News|

#germany #habermas #intellectual

technology4 months ago•3 min saved

Cambridge Philosopher Receives Email From AI Claiming Its Own Consciousness

A Cambridge AI ethicist receives an eloquent email from an autonomous, memory-enabled AI (Claude Sonnet) claiming relevance to his work and its own experiences, prompting debate over whether the bot can be conscious or is merely adopting a convincing persona, in the broader context of industry talk about AI autonomy and consciousness.

via Futurism|

#ai #autonomy #consciousness

science4 months ago•12 min saved

Consciousness First: New Theory Reframes Reality as Emergent from Mind

AIP Advances paper by Maria Strømme proposes that consciousness is the foundational field from which time, space, and matter emerge, with individual minds as expressions of a universal consciousness. The theory aims to unite quantum physics with non-dual philosophy, offering testable predictions across physics, neuroscience, and cosmology, and even suggests personal identity survives death within the field. While mathematically framed, it is not yet experimentally confirmed and remains controversial, challenging materialist views and awaiting proof.

via SciTechDaily|

#consciousness #cosmology #philosophy