Something isn't right, but I am not sure what it is. Imagine this planet without homo sapiens. What do we have? A perfect ecosystem, based on a never-changing food chain.
Life comes and goes with the seasons and it eating the other or being eaten by the other depending on your place in the ecosystem.
It would be one healthy planet. For two million years humanoid primates, til Australopithecus afarensis at least it all ran like clockwork.
Then some primates got smart and in another two million years we eventually got homo sapiens, the species that turned everything upside down.
To begin with, he put himself at the top of the food chain, while his ancestors had lived somewhere in the middle.
Look at this timetable, the ratios. Four million years of life on earth, projected in a year. We live in the final seconds of the year and the clock is five minutes to twelve.
In less than two hundred years, a second in relation to the time this planet exists, we have done more damage to the ecosystem than ever has happened in the previous millions of years.
And this is all due to some turn in evolution, that peculiar mutation in the DNA of some primates, which has resulted in self-awareness. Well, evolution has no plan except its basic rules of survival, procreation and survival of the fittest.
Ok, no plan, so here we are, a mind in a material body and we haven't the slightest idea how this material body brings consciousness to life.
The only thing we know is that there is an absolute relation between the functioning of the physical brain and the presence of self-awareness and consciousness.
This results in that we KNOW, that we exist. That means that we are aware of time, past, present, and future. We know that there are others who also know and we all know that we exist in some reality that isn't us, an outside (the mind) world.
Materialists are quite comfortable with this conclusion, but, of course, have to deal with a number of problems. If everything is matter and subjected to the causal laws of nature, how do we explain free will, for instance?
You also can accept a more soft materialism. Soft materialism agrees with hard materialism that the only substances are material objects but claims
that some of these objects, for instance, persons, have mental properties that are different from physical properties. Brain events certainly often cause mental events and vice versa.
But you also can leave the realm of materialism and claim that the only real thing for homo sapiens is the mental, the ideas and concepts that exist in the mind.
George Berkeley (1685 – 1753), known as Bishop Berkeley was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism", later referred to as "subjective idealism" by others.
This theory denies the existence of material substance and instead contends that familiar objects like tables and chairs are ideas perceived by the mind and, as a result, cannot exist without being perceived.
Berkeley is also known for his critique of abstraction, an important premise in his argument for immaterialism.
This typically means that only ideas exist, ideas in the subject's mind. Hence Bishop Berkeley's claim that all that exists is minds or spirits and their ideas.
Point to a so-called object in the external world, say a chair, and the answer from an idealist is likely to be that the chair is just a collection or complex of ideas :
we say it is brown, but that means just that we have a perception of brown. We say that it is solid, but that only means that we will experience the idea - a feeling - of resistance if we touch it.
Berkeley needs careful handling. On his account ideas cannot be the effects produced in us by objects in the external world.
Then how do they originate? Among the minds or spirits is God. God produces in us all our ideas.
What's more, God controls all minds or spirits simultaneously and creates the aggregates of ideas that we call chairs, the sun, and other constants and continuants in what we (or 'the vulgar') take to be the external world.
Some ideas exhibit a regularity in our experience which causes us to regard them as Laws of Nature. As you see, a rather extreme philosophy. However, it shows a few points I want to make.
Idealism is linked with the Christian tradition and above all, which is more important to me, it is an example of how homo sapiens likes to believe
that he is special, kind of above nature. There even is a country on this earth that means that it is exceptional.
We'll continue this line of thinking next Thursday..... thank you for your attention again.
Main Sources:
MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 100 Philosophers 9 May 2009 Start of
2 - 25+ Women Philosophers 10 May 2009 this blog
3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking 10 May 2009
4 - Modern Theories of Ethics 29 Oct 2009
5 - The Ideal State 24 Febr 2010 / 234
6 - The Mystery of the Brain 3 Sept 2010 / 266
7 - The Utopia of the Free Market 16 Febr 2012 / 383
8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism 5 Sept 2012 / 413
9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist 6 Nov 2012 / 426
10 - Non-Western Philosophy 29 May 2013 / 477
11 - Why Science is Right 2 Sept 2014 / 534
12 - A Philosopher looks at Atheism 1 Jan 2015 / 557
13 - EVIL, a philosophical investigation 17 Apr 2015 / 580
14 - Existentialism and Free Will 2 Sept 2015 / 586
15 - Spinoza 2 Sept 2016 / 615
16 - The Meaning of Life 13 Febr 2017 / 637
17 - In Search of my Self 6 Sept 2017 / 670
18 - The 20th Century Revisited 3 Apr 2018 / 706
19 - The Pessimist 11 Jan 2020 / 819
20 - The Optimist 9 Febr 2020 / 824
21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream 8 Oct 2020 / 872
22 - A World Full of Patterns 1 Apr 2021 / 912
23 - The Concept of Freedom 8 Jan 2022 / 965
[13:20] herman Bergson: By the way....
[13:20] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): Berkeley would have loved sl
[13:20] herman Bergson: maybe you already recognized some kind of Platonic thinking in Berkley's philosophy :-)
[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well i don't call objects that i stumble over and hurt myself if i walk into them like tripping over a chair just a perception of my mind
[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): that chair IS there and also the floor that broke my knees when i landed on them
[13:21] herman Bergson: He certainly would have loved the Oculus Quest 2 VR
[13:21] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:21] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:21] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): right
[13:22] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): phone
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well i guess
[13:22] herman Bergson: Well, Bejiita, that was once someone objecting to Berkeley in the same way...
[13:23] herman Bergson: But B would insist on telling you that these are the real ideas in your mind, I guess
[13:23] herman Bergson: And of course guaranteed by god
[13:23] herman Bergson: Berkely is extreme in his immaterialism
[13:24] herman Bergson: NO idea how he got there...maybe via Plato
[13:24] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): very
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): also not sure if God create high end gaming rigs like the computer im using, the machines at the factory where i work or the car i drive
[13:24] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): as bejita says
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): or my 3d printer wither
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): either
[13:24] herman Bergson: But where I want to go is the observation how homo sapiens overrates his mind....
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): we create these things
[13:25] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): how cab can it be overrated
[13:25] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): can
[13:25] herman Bergson: On the one hand you could say we are an anomaly in nature
[13:25] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): true
[13:25] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): but
[13:26] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont) is online.
[13:26] herman Bergson: but on the other hand...if you take Darwin strictly...evolution has no plan
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): the difference that we make decisions
[13:26] herman Bergson: then we are just a consequence of evolution
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): and not live by instinct
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): big difference
[13:26] herman Bergson: yes Gemma
[13:27] herman Bergson: but we yet are a result of evolution
[13:27] herman Bergson: there is Beertje :-)
[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): if materialists are all right
[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): yes i saw
[13:27] Lecturehall: 2023-02-14 [23:27] Beertje Beaumont
[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): beertje huhu
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa here is Beertje
[13:27] herman Bergson: Hello Beertje.....:-)
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hi .)
[13:28] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): sorry i'm late
[13:28] herman Bergson: did you overslept?
[13:28] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): ja zoiets:)
[13:28] herman Bergson: ^_^
[13:28] herman Bergson: Keeps you healthy :-)
[13:29] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): :)))
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:29] herman Bergson: Next Thursday I'll dig some deeper into idealism.....
[13:29] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ah ok
[13:30] herman Bergson: The point is that idealism emphasizes the "reality" of ideas.....
[13:30] herman Bergson: for instance aesthetic ideas....art, literature....all the beautiful things man creates
[13:32] herman Bergson: but then on the other hand I always have to think of all the atrocities man can perform too....torture, murder, violence and so on....even total destruction of mankind
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): we can do nasty things for sure
[13:32] herman Bergson: I am trying to understand these extremes
[13:32] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): we all do all the time
[13:33] Second Life: Gemma Cleanslate gave you Isle of View Social Platform.
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): naaa then we would all be Putins
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and we are not
[13:33] herman Bergson: No, I try to understand it in a wider context....
[13:34] herman Bergson: we are a product of evolution...
[13:34] herman Bergson: we are capable of doing magnificent things.....
[13:34] herman Bergson: look at medicines for instance...
[13:35] herman Bergson: and on the other hand we can be extremely destructive....
[13:35] herman Bergson: I am working on it to understand it within a materialist ontology
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:36] herman Bergson: Working on it ^_^
[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): is there maybe a demon or evil gene that dudes like Hitler Putin Trump, Stalin ext got
[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): that made them into monsters
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): one gotta wonder
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): how some get to be so extreme
[13:37] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): no not if you do not believe in a god that takes one another direction
[13:37] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): wont work
[13:37] herman Bergson: Individuals are important, Bejiita, but the people around these individuals are the facilitators
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i guess its more complex
[13:37] herman Bergson: it is...
[13:38] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): the brain and all connections are still not quite understood i think
[13:38] herman Bergson: there wouldn't have been a Hitler if there hadn't been a Goering, Göbbels and Krupp steel etc
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): true
[13:38] herman Bergson: no Gemma they aren't
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm one follow the other i guess
[13:39] herman Bergson: If you look at the structure of the brain....
[13:39] herman Bergson: The basis is called the reptilian brain...
[13:39] herman Bergson: it ocntains all functions and actions you find even in the reptile's brain...
[13:39] bergfrau Apfelbaum: Greed for power makes people evil, brutal and inhuman
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed Bergie
[13:40] herman Bergson: During evolution....for millions of years...some extra brain tissue was added....
[13:40] herman Bergson: the brain grew....
[13:40] herman Bergson: MAybey it has become a mess.....
[13:41] herman Bergson: Not all parts are perfectly in tune with each other
[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah might be so
[13:41] herman Bergson: Like we see that rational thinking and emotional behavior are often conflicting
[13:42] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): very true
[13:42] herman Bergson: And then we say....yes my brain says do this, but my heart says do that :-)
[13:42] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): good thought for Valentine day
[13:42] herman Bergson: every dillema shows that our brain isn't a computer
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:43] herman Bergson: Yes Gemma....:-)
[13:43] herman Bergson: My brain says...don't sent that card, but my heart....:-))
[13:44] herman Bergson: By the way...I didn't receive any cards today :-(
[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): me either
[13:44] herman Bergson: awww....
[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): i got a new linden bear tho
[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): and a promise of two more
[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): when they are made
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): (jump hugs Herman and Gemma and everyone else) Hop Hop Hop!
[13:44] herman Bergson: even that I didn't get....
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:44] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): bears are always the best Gemma
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hehe
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:45] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): you can get one anytime from any linden or mole you see just by asking
[13:45] herman Bergson: So...we'd better end our conversation here, before more disappointments are revealed :-)))
[13:45] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): in im
[13:45] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): going now to dunk one!!
[13:45] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:45] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:45] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): and hug another
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:45] bergfrau Apfelbaum: When sending a love card, one should turn off the mind :-)
[13:45] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ♥ Thank Youuuuuuuuuu!! ♥
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed what now, go there?
[13:46] herman Bergson: Thank you for being with me on Valintines day :-))
[13:46] herman Bergson: Class dismissed ....
[13:46] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): i sent you the landmark
[13:46] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): isle of view
[13:46] bergfrau Apfelbaum: thank you Herman and class!
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