tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681740221183857496.post7084019875653595529..comments2023-09-07T00:55:11.381-07:00Comments on χειρ: La MettrieUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681740221183857496.post-23087707626132877152010-10-15T12:29:52.671-07:002010-10-15T12:29:52.671-07:00The only thing new about it are the people who now...The only thing new about it are the people who now know about it because they hadn't been born yet! :D<br /><br />I see you upgraded to one of the new Design Templates. I like it!Aratina Cagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05191120796865740975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681740221183857496.post-21245588469475066512010-10-10T08:36:00.649-07:002010-10-10T08:36:00.649-07:00The fact that this was written in 1748 and is the ...The fact that this was written in 1748 and is the reasoning of a physician who believed that simple physical principles are capable of explaining the behavior, thought, emotion, empathic sentiments - the entire range of phenomena exhibited by biological organisms - is remarkable. It is also notable for its lack of discrimination, man and animals are essentially no different, and for its simple atheistic and optimistic outlook on life. There are real historical precedents to what we consider "modern" ideas, and nothing new about "new atheism".Eric Schaetzlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17658689292611460708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681740221183857496.post-58154979288936764042010-10-03T10:02:48.150-07:002010-10-03T10:02:48.150-07:00I wouldn't have thought I'd see such clear...I wouldn't have thought I'd see such clearly elucidated thinking about biology and minds back in 1748! If I could focus on one part in particular to say more about, I would like to comment on this: <br /><br />"<i>Thought incompatible with organised matter? That is so far from right, I believe, that thought seems to be a property of matter, like electricity, power to move, impenetrability, extension, etc.</i>"<br /><br />This is, I think, where the evidence is leading and why I think thinking of brains as glorified computers is the way to go. For instance, the color red could be, or at least could unfold as a process in the mind from, nothing more than a memory—a unique word of logic bits—referenced by the greater brain during its operation; and not just the color red but everything we sense and feel, our whole mental world. If that should be proven true in the future, Mettrie could be said to have been thinking about this problem correctly as "thoughts being the result of a property of organized matter" (paraphrased) because, after all, any matter can be used in computations, including the kinds of matter that have little to no mass.<br /><br />I would also like to point out that Mettrie, like PZ Myers, rebuts the <i>Courtier's Reply</i> quite aptly on page 19 of the PDF: "<i>I am told to read the works of the defenders of Christianity [and he names some]; but what will they teach me? Or rather, what have they taught me? There’s nothing to them but boring repetitions by zealous writers who add to each other only verbiage that is more apt to strengthen than undermine the foundations of atheism.</i>"<br /><br />Such a good find!Aratina Cagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05191120796865740975noreply@blogger.com