The following review articles were originally published in various open-access internet forums. The versions assembled here incorporate minor revisions.
Latest article:
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Approaches to the study of consciousness can be broadly classified as reductive or non-reductive.
Reductionists try to characterize consciousness through cognitive functions that it takes part in, while non-reductionists maintain that this leaves out important aspects of conscious experience. Non-reductionists also tend to dismiss claims that one day we might be able to build a “conscious machine”.
This article offers an informal comparison of two candidate frameworks for the study of consciousness (one reductive, proposed by
Aaron Sloman
and
Ron Chrisley,
and one non-reductive, proposed by
David Chalmers
) that leads to a surprising result: if we grant non-reductive status to consciousness, then it follows that to build a “conscious machine” must be possible.
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Older articles:
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This article starts by sketching various layers of consciousness above and below our surface mental awareness, and moves on to consider the psychological roots of the problem of evil. It is based on the system formulated by the Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo.
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This article explores the intellectual foundations of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy: the overarching framework that he called “the logic of the Infinite,” and the concept of supramental consciousness that he postulated as its executive agent.
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Drawing on Sri Aurobindo’s major philosophical work, this
article contrasts his views with those of spiritual Illusionism as exemplified by Buddhism
and the Mayavada of Shankara.
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A review of
The Lives of Sri Aurobindo,
the latest biography by an American historian
Peter Heehs,
published by
Columbia University Press.
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This article might be regarded as a belated review of
Nationalism, Terrorism, Communalism
by
Peter Heehs,
which is eminently relevant even a
decade after its publication.
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Review of
Nationalism, Religion, and Beyond,
an anthology of writings on politics, society, and culture by Sri Aurobindo, edited by
Peter Heehs.
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