Episode 83, The David Chalmers Interview (Part I - Consciousness)
July 19, 2020
52 min
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Episode 83 · July 19, 2020
Episode 83, The David Chalmers Interview (Part I - Consciousness)
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Jack Symes Philosophy Episodes Around July 19, 2020
Episode 203 of 377 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
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Episode 83, The David Chalmers Interview (Part I - Consciousness)
Summary
<p class=""><strong>Introduction</strong></p> <p class="">The hard problem of consciousness is the problem of experience. How do 100 billion neurons come together to bring about a unified, conscious mind, and the rich tapestry of qualities that make up our world? This might be the most difficult problem in philosophy and science. No matter how rich our description of the brain, it seems that we'll still be left with this same question: where does consciousness come from and what is its place in nature?</p> <p class="">Having coined the term 'the hard problem' in 1994, today, <a href="http://consc.net/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">David Chalmers</a> finds himself ranked amongst the world's most prominent thinkers. David is currently Professor of <a href="https://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/departments/philosophy.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Philosophy</a> and <a href="https://as.nyu.edu/cns.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Neural Science</a> at <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">New York University</a>, co-director of the <a href="https://wp.nyu.edu/consciousness/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness</a>, Honorary Professor of Philosophy at the <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Australian National University</a>, and co-director of the academic database <a href="https://philpapers.org/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">PhilPapers</a>. Amongst his many contributions, David is the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conscious-Search-Fundamental-Theory-Philosophy/dp/0195117891/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the%20conscious%20mind&qid=1593807998&sr=8-1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>The Conscious Mind</em></a><em>,</em> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Character-Consciousness-Philosophy-Mind/dp/0195311116/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The%20Character%20of%20Consciousness&qid=1593808015&sr=8-1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>The Character of Consciousness</em></a><em>, </em>and <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Constructing-World-David-J-Chalmers/dp/019960858X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Constructing%20the%20World%2C&qid=1593808035&sr=8-1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>Constructing the World</em></a>. David's hundreds of papers, interviews, and talks, make up some of the most influential contributions to the field, breathing new life into the debate and inspiring a new wave of scholarship.</p> <p class="">For many, the problem of consciousness goes beyond the dusty chalkboards of seminar rooms and into our day-to-day lives. Consciousness may well be the determining factor of what constitutes a worthwhile existence, or whether or not a being deserves our moral consideration. </p> <p class="">The stakes are higher than the nature of the world itself. It's time to wake up and smell the roses… <em>how</em> can we explain consciousness?</p> <div class="yui3-widget yui3-block-base yui3-block-parent-base sqs-block-html sqs-block html-block" id="block-c80b9a484a666d8a8a46"> <div class="sqs-block-html-content sqs-block-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1593809252735_6360"> <div class="sqs-dd-invalid-handle yui3-widget sqs-html" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1593809252735_6377"> <div class="sqs-html-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1593809252735_6379"> <p class=""><strong>Contents</strong></p> <p class="">Part I. Consciousness</p> <p class="">Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="yui3-widget yui3-block-base sqs-block-horizontalrule sqs-block horizontalrule-block" id="block-413d25c87b4cac37a1d8"> <div class="sqs-block-horizontalrule-content sqs-block-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1593809252735_6442"> <hr /></div> </div> <div class="yui3-widget yui3-block-base yui3-block-parent-base sqs-block-html sqs-block html-block" id="block-3df2f7a75078806f8162"> <div class="sqs-block-html-content sqs-block-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1593809252735_6502"> <div class="sqs-dd-invalid-handle yui3-widget sqs-html" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1593809252735_6519"> <div class="sqs-html-content" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1593809252735_6521"> <p class=""><strong>Links</strong></p> <p class=""><a href="http://consc.net/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">David Chalmers, Website</a></p> <p class=""><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=author%3AChalmers%2C%20David%20J." rel="noopener" target="_blank">David Chalmers, Books (IndieBound)</a></p> <p class=""><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B000AQ6ORC?_encoding=UTF8&langFilter=default&node=266239&offset=0&page=1&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank#formatSelectorHeader" rel="noopener" target="_blank">David Chalmers, Books (Amazon)</a></p> <p class=""><a href="http://consc.net/all-papers/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">David Chalmers, Papers</a></p> <p class=""><a href="http://consc.net/video-lectures/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">David Chalmers, Talks</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div>