THE MIND–BODY PROBLEM

Scientific American writer John Horgan gives a light-hearted overview of one of the most prevailing inquiries in philosophy – the nature of the relationship between mind and body. He writes:

“Some philosophers, notably Colin McGinn, argue that the mind-body problem is unsolvable. Just as rats aren’t smart enough to do arithmetic, McGinn suggests, we’re not smart enough to figure out consciousness. Philosopher Owen Flanagan calls proponents of this pessimistic position “mysterians.

Mysterianism seems increasingly reasonable to me. I doubt science will ever give us a theory so potent that we think, “Ah, so that explains consciousness.” But unlike McGinn, I don’t think we’re too dumb to solve the mind-body problem. In fact, I suspect that the smarter we get, the more puzzled we will be by our own minds.

Read the complete article here: The Mind–Body Problem, Scientific Regress and “Woo”