On 4 February 2014 13:57, Stathis Papaioannou <[email protected]> wrote:
We can refer to our conscious states because the base phenomena on which > our conscious states supervene cause our vocal cords to move in a > particular way. But it is wrong to say, except in a loose way of speaking, > that our conscious states cause our vocal cords to move. The supervenient > phenomenon follows in a straightforward way (by virtue of being > supervenient) without the need for downward causation. But then there is no entailment that the movements of our vocal cords refer to conscious states, is there? They're just physical systems following physical causation, at whatever level of analysis. If so, I'd like to know what reason you have to take seriously your own assertions that you are conscious, since the only evidence is presumably neuronal behaviour that falls victim to the same analysis you give above. Or do you claim to have access to some other method of "knowing you are conscious"? David -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
