Episode 85

The second episode in a new series of The Reality Report wherein Mark Taylor talks with me about the mind-body problem and the so-called "hard problem" of consciousness. We continue talking about Wittgenstein's influence on Dennett, on Russell's influence on Wittgenstein, then Dennett's "zombie argument", the film "Blade Runner", the "brain in a vat" thought experiment and other issues relating to solipsism.

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Some relevant links:

• Bertrand Russell
• Ludwig Wittgenstein
• L. Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921)
• L. Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (1953)
• L. Wittgenstein, The Blue and Brown Books (1958)
• prime numbers
• why 1 isn't considered a prime number
• foundations of mathematics
• transfinite numbers
• axioms (of mathematics)
• Axiom of Choice
• continuum hypothesis
• Daniel Dennett
• the "hard problem" of consciousness
• Thomas Nagel
• T. Nagel, "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" (1974 article)
• Dennett's "zombie problem"
• Blade Runner (1982 film)
• Roger Penrose
• microtubules and consciousness
• solipsism
• "brain in a jar" thought experiment
• consciousness in machines
• dubstep
• tiddlywinks
• European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus)