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#374 - Consciousness and the Physical World

Making Sense with Sam Harris - Subscriber Content

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Challenges of Physicalism and Consciousness Illusion

The challenge raised is against eliminative materialists who claim that consciousness is an illusion. The speaker argues that consciousness is evident as even illusions demonstrate consciousness. It is emphasized that the very fact of something seeming to happen is a surety, even amidst confusion. Doubting consciousness affirms its existence; dismissing it as an illusion renders the concept of reality meaningless. The fundamental challenge to physicalism lies in explaining how feelings and subjective experiences can arise from purely physical entities like matter and energy, a puzzle that philosophy and science have been unable to solve, casting doubt on the viability of physicalism.

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