Tag: universals

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
June 9, 2025

Categories
Neuroscience & Mind
Tagged
, abstract thought, Aristotle, brain processes, brain state, circle, concepts, consciousness, Denyse O'Leary, immateriality, intellect, line, logic, materialism, matter, neuroscience, perfection, soul, The Immortal Mind, triangle, truth, Uncertainty Principle, universals, Werner Heisenberg}

How Can We Conceive of Perfection When We Never Experience It?

_{Michael Egnor
June 9, 2025

Neuroscience & Mind

3}

There are two ways we can think of a triangle. One way is to form a mental image, likely based on a triangle we have seen on a piece of paper. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Daniel Witt

Date
February 28, 2025

Categories
Biology
Engineering
Mathematics
Metaphysics
Tagged
, a priori, abstract objects, Andreas Wagner, Daniel Dennett, David Deutsch, Discovery Institute, DNA, emergence, flatworms, frogs, Günter Bechly, Harvard University, material world, materialism, Max Tegmark, Mereology, Michael Levin, morphogenesis, mysticism, naturalism, philosophy of biology, physical world, physicalism, Platonism, Platonists, Richard Sternberg, Roger Penrose, secondary qualities, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, teleology, Tufts University, universals, University of Zurich, Werner Heisenberg}

Biologist Michael Levin: A Farewell to Physicalism

_{Daniel Witt
February 28, 2025

Biology, Engineering, Mathematics, Metaphysics

15}

Levin proposes a “radical Platonist view in which some of the causal input into mind and life originates outside the physical world.” Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
August 1, 2022

Categories
Culture
Faith & Science
Mathematics
Metaphysics
Tagged
, atheism, Augustinian Proof, Big Bang, Edward Feser, eternity, God Hypothesis, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, infinity, Jerry Coyne, numbers, omnipotence, Plato, Platonic forms, solar system, St. Augustine, sun, theism, universals}

Mathematics and the God Hypothesis

_{Michael Egnor
August 1, 2022

Culture, Faith & Science, Mathematics, Metaphysics

5}

There is a classical proof of God’s existence that uses universal concepts such as mathematics, proposed most prominently by St. Augustine. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
June 11, 2018

Categories
Linguistics
Neuroscience & Mind
Tagged
, __k-review, abstract thought, Adrian Dyer, animals, Aristotle, artificial intelligence, Australia, dog, food, honeybees, humans, Melbourne, neurons, nothing, researchers, universals, visual cortex, zero}

Can Bees Understand the Concept of “Zero”?

_{Michael Egnor
June 11, 2018

Linguistics, Neuroscience & Mind

6}

The scientists credited the bees with more intelligence than some humans. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
February 5, 2018

Categories
Chemistry
Neuroscience & Mind
Physics
Tagged
, __k-review, abstract thought, action potentials, brain, cat, intellect, justice, materalism, mind, neurons, neuroscience, neurotransmitters, Tabby, universals, will}

The Representation Problem and the Immateriality of the Mind

_{Michael Egnor
February 5, 2018

Chemistry, Neuroscience & Mind, Physics

5}

If I think about a particular thing — my cat Tabby, for example — my actual cat Tabby isn’t in my brain. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
January 4, 2018

Categories
Faith & Science
Philosophy
Tagged
, __k-review, Aristotelianism, Aristotle, dualism, Ed Feser, mind, nature, Nominalism, Plato, Platonism, redness, Thomas Aquinas, universals}

Redness Reconsidered: Materialism, Universals, and Abstract Objects of Thought

_{Michael Egnor
January 4, 2018

Faith & Science, Philosophy

5}

The question about the material/immaterial nature of abstract thought is crucial to the debate over the plausibility of materialism. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
August 31, 2016

Categories
Human Origins and Anthropology
Neuroscience & Mind
Tagged
, __tedited, abstract thought, behaviorism, communication, Daniel Everett, designators, grammar, human exceptionalism, human language, immaterial mind, language, language organ, Noam Chomsky, The Kingdom of Speech, Tom Wolfe, universals, words}

Tom Wolfe on Language and Evolution

_{Michael Egnor
August 31, 2016

Human Origins and Anthropology, Neuroscience & Mind

6}

I think that Noam Chomsky is fundamentally right, and I am skeptical of Daniel Everett's claim. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
July 9, 2016

Categories
Philosophy
Science
Tagged
, __edited, __tedited, abstract concepts, abstract reasoning, abstract thought, animal intelligence, animal languages, causality, human exceptionalism, human mind, human nature, human reason, language, logic, Nature Genetics, universals}

Is Your Cat Logical?

_{Michael Egnor
July 9, 2016

Philosophy, Science

6}

Goodness gracious, this stuff never stops. Read More ›