Recent articles and presentations:

On non-traditional uses of gaming technologies and simulations of human behaviour (Presentation slides, August 2019)

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Presentation summary: The use of gaming technology for other purposes than pure entertainment is termed “serious game”. After illustrating the concept on two applications that broadly qualify as educational (slides 2-12), the presentation goes on to describe a virtual training environment for security forces built as part of project EUSAS (slides 13-26). The need for realistic simulations of human behaviour raises interesting questions about artificial intelligence and the prospects of machine consciousness (slides 27-29).

More information on project EUSAS can be found in the journal article A novel way of using simulations to support urban security operations (2015), while the prospects of machine consciousness are informally reviewed in the article Machines, Intelligence, Consciousness further below.

The presentation is accompanied by four sample videos. If your PDF viewer does not automatically play them when you click on their links in the presentation, you may have to download them and place them in a “videoss” subfolder relative to the presentation.

The meta-problem and the transfer of knowledge between theories of consciousness (February 2019)

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This is a preprint version of a sequel to Machines, Intelligence, Consciousness, submitted to the Journal of Consciousness Studies and stored in the open access internet archive philPapers.org.

Machines, Intelligence, Consciousness

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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 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.

Older articles:

Psychological Foundations of Sri Aurobindo’s Philosophy and His Approach to the Problem of Evil

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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 Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo.

Supramental Consciousness and the Logic of the Infinite

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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.

Sri Aurobindo’s “Universal Realism” and the Doctrine of Cosmic Illusion

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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.

A Discerning Tribute    [Review of Heehs: The Lives of Sri Aurobindo]

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A review of The Lives of Sri Aurobindo, the latest biography by American historian Peter Heehs, published by Columbia University Press.

Heehs on Sri Aurobindo and Indian Communalism

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This article might be regarded as a belated review of Nationalism, Terrorism, Communalism by Peter Heehs, which remains eminently relevant even two decades after its publication.

India as a Synthesis of Cultures    [Review of Heehs: Nationalism, Religion, and Beyond]

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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.