Avicenna's Flying Man and the Nature of Self-Awareness

Are we purely physical beings? Is the mind or soul immaterial? These questions have vexed philosophers for millenia. Avicenna, born in the 10th Century, believed he had a thought experiment that showed that we are not purely physical beings, the Flying Man thought experiment. Peter Adamson explains in this interview with Nigel Warburton for the Philosophy Bites podcast. Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy.