Papers by Gonzalo Munevar
Filozoficzne Aspekty Genezy, May 24, 2021
António Damásio's notion of "core consciousness" suffers from serious defects. It cannot account ... more António Damásio's notion of "core consciousness" suffers from serious defects. It cannot account for phenomena such as dreaming or locked-in-syndrome, which a proper theory of consciousness should explain, because it requires that the organism's self-representation be affected by the organism's processing of an object. This requirement cannot be met in those two states. Moreover, in many states in which the organism does take into account the effect of, say, the perception of an external object, that account is unconscious. And lastly, the close connection Damásio makes between consciousness and the self leads to a theoretically untenable division of the self: evolutionary considerations demand that even a primitive self (e.g., a proto-self) exhibit features of an "autobiographical self".
Filozoficzne Aspekty Genezy, May 21, 2021
Naturalistyczne wyjaśnienie wolnej woli (II) * 1. Wprowadzenie W niniejszej pracy moim zamiarem j... more Naturalistyczne wyjaśnienie wolnej woli (II) * 1. Wprowadzenie W niniejszej pracy moim zamiarem jest krytyka argumentów różnych ekspertów w dziedzinie neuronauk, którzy, jak się zdaje, ustalili, iż wolna wola nie istnieje albo dlatego, że jest złudzeniem, albo dlatego, że nasze doświadczenie czy pojęcie wolnej woli uzależnione jest od istnienia "ja" (lub "jaźni"), które samo przez się jest iluzją. Zasadniczy błąd takich argumentów polega na przyjmowaniu nazbyt zawężonego związku między wolną wolą a byciem świadomym, tak jak między jaźnią a byciem świadomym. Gdy umieścimy świadomość na właściwym miejscu, to rozwieją się "racje" przeciw istnieniu ja i wolnej woli.
Revista de Filosofía, 1989
Biology and Philosophy, Apr 1, 1988
... C 1988 by KluwerAcademic Publishers. Page 2. GONZALO MUNEVAR that the solution lies in a more... more ... C 1988 by KluwerAcademic Publishers. Page 2. GONZALO MUNEVAR that the solution lies in a more general analysis of selection that would include both biological and conceptual evolution, and he thinks that he has just the right mechanism to buttress that analysis. ...
Philosophy of Science, Sep 1, 2002
Futures, Jun 1, 2019
Colonizing outer space will prevent great cosmic catastrophes, eventually human extinction, while... more Colonizing outer space will prevent great cosmic catastrophes, eventually human extinction, while offering great advantages to humanity. I include establishing bases on the Moon, Mars, and other bodies in the solar system, perhaps terraforming some of them, as well as building the sorts of space colonies championed by Gerard O'Neill. This will bring clean energy to Earth and give us access to the resources of the solar system, while increasing our scientific knowledge of heaven and Earth. The harm this approach will prevent and the benefits it offers create a moral obligation to colonize space. We have an obligation to colonize outer space. This colonization may include establishing bases on the Moon, Mars, and other bodies in the solar system, perhaps leading to terraforming some of them, as well as building the sorts of space colonies championed by Gerard O'Neill. 1 By doing so we may save humanity from collisions with asteroids and other cosmic catastrophes, while also bringing clean energy to Earth and giving us access to the resources of the solar system. Carrying out such tasks will, moreover, increase our scientific knowledge of heaven and Earth. A collision with a large asteroid may bring human life on Earth to an end. Space colonization would allow human life to continue. Smaller, and far more likely, collisions will cause great destruction and kill millions of people. Furthermore, a heavy human presence throughout the solar system would make it possible, even highly probable, that many such collisions may be prevented, thus saving billions of humans, and many other living beings, from a horrible death. And whether we are able to avert such a catastrophes, the sun will become a red giant in four or five billion years; but even long before then, it will make the Earth an unbearable planet. In the long run, thus, space colonization will give terrestrial life another chance. Space colonization will give us many opportunities to improve the Earth itself, for example by moving polluting industries into space, providing clean solar power from space at reasonable prices, and making available to our home planet many of the resources of the asteroids and other bodies in the solar system. Doing so will enable us to increase our knowledge of the universe, and particularly of planetary science, which would then permit a wiser approach to our own planet. The word limit narrows my scope, and thus I will concentrate on the likelihood of collisions with comets and asteroids. Gravitational disturbances of the asteroid belt, the Kuiper Belt (a little beyond Pluto) or of the Oort cloud, in the outskirts of the solar system, send many large bodies towards the sun. 2 Some of them collide with the planets and moons of the solar system. Consider that there are trillions of objects larger than 1 km and billions larger than 20 km in the Oort cloud alone. Given its position, and its
Routledge eBooks, Aug 21, 2018
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Papers by Gonzalo Munevar