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Metaphysics

The Simulated Self

Justin Holme represents his self to you.

Is the world made of one type of stuff, or at least two? We’re familiar with the physical world, but consciousness appears to be a different type of stuff altogether. The two main theories about the relationship of the physical world to consciousness are materialism (a type of monism, where everything is made of one type of stuff), and dualism. The first essentially says that the material world is all that exists, and consciousness can and probably will be exhaustively explained in scientific, materialistic terms. By contrast, dualists argue that consciousness is somehow separate from, but connected to, the physical world. If a person bangs their head hard enough they temporarily lose consciousness.

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