Panpsychism Makes a Comeback in a different form (General)

by dhw, Friday, January 25, 2019, 10:40 (2127 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: I find both “first causes” equally reasonable/unreasonable, but one of them must be right. I can't decide which one. Topsy-turvy refers to your argument that life must appear first for consciousness to appear, but consciousness created life.

DAVID: You will remember my contention that consciousness cannot appear from nothing. Human consciousness requires the appearance first of a human brain that can contain it or have the ability to receive it. I do not think that our human brain invented consciousness. You may consider a first cause God as topsy-turvy but I don't.

I do not consider a first cause God as topsy-turvy! Please reread what I said was topsy-turvy (now bolded). I agree that consciousness cannot appear from nothing, and that is why it is so difficult to conceive of consciousness that never had a source (= your God). I suspect most of us would agree that human consciousness is difficult to imagine without there being a human brain – but that is precisely where the dualism versus materialism debate begins; is the brain the receiver/container, or is it the source of our consciousness? I don’t have an answer. But I would regard it as patently absurd to say that the human brain invented consciousness, because in my view there were millions of life forms before us that possessed a degree of consciousness and, as you well know, there are some highly reputable scientists who are convinced that these include bacteria. (NB: The meaning of "consciousness" should not be confined to the degree of self-awareness attained by humans.)