Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor reflects on the fact that theories that attempt to show that the mind does not really exist clearly don’t work and never did:
Just about any shallow science writer can tell you what is wrong with dualism, citing Descartes. But, in reality, the world we live in is inherently dual. There is classical physics and then there is quantum physics. There is material matter and energy and then there is immaterial information. just for example. Claiming they are all the same sort of thing is certainly a stretch.
News, “Dualism is the best option for understanding the mind and the brain” at Mind Matters News
Takehome: Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor reviews the mind-brain theories for East Meets West: Theology Unleashed. He thinks dualism makes the best sense of the evidence.
Here are transcripts and notes for the first thirty minutes:
How we can know mental states are real? Mental states are always “about” something; physical states are not “about” anything. Michael Egnor argues that doing science as a physicalist (a materialist) is like driving a car with the parking brake on; it’s a major impediment to science.
Why neurosurgeon Mike Egnor stopped being a materialist atheist. He found that materialism is just not working out in science. Most propositions in basic science are based on mathematics and mathematics is not a material thing.
and
How science points to meaning in life. The earliest philosopher of science, Aristotle, pioneered a way of understanding it. Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor talks about the four causes of the events in our world, from the material to the mind.
You may also wish to read: Why the universe itself can’t be the most fundamental thing. Atheist biology professor Jerry Coyne is mistaken in dismissing my observation that proofs of God’s existence follow the same logical structure as any other scientific theory. (Michael Egnor)