“I like to think of myself as a naturalist - insofar as that term is at all clear.” ThinkingTermClearNaturalist Author:Tim Crane
“Even if we ignore the 'non-theoretical' knowledge which we acquire through experience (such as the knowledge of what something tastes like) and concentrate on theoretical knowledge, there is no good reason to think that physics can literally give the theory of everything. Here I want to be really pedantic. Although everything may be subject to physical law, not everything can be explained or described in physical terms. Physics has literally nothing to say about society, morality and the mind, for example - but of course these are parts of 'everything'.” ThinkingGivingMindReasonTermMoralityPhysicsTheoretical Author:Tim Crane
“If I was going to sum up my approach to this whole mind issue, I would say this: the question is often formulated in a very bad way - for example, by posing the question in terms of stuff. It's better to start with the things we do know: for example, that there are people and other thinking creatures, who have mental capacities. Our next step should be to say something about these capacities.” PeopleThinkingMindTerm Author:Tim Crane
“A real naturalistic approach, I would claim, should take the reality of mental representation as a natural fact. A lot can be said about this fact, but there is no need to say it all in terms of necessary and/or sufficient conditions which are stated in non-intentional terms. The idea that naturalism might require that all the truths should be stated in a particular kind of vocabulary now strikes me as a very peculiar one.” KindRealRealityTermNaturalRepresentationNaturalism Author:Tim Crane
“Many people like to think that their moral or political enemies are not just wicked or wrong - as if that were not enough - but stupid or idiotic too. We tend to find this attitude too in the contemporary religion debate. It might console those on each side of the debate to think of their opponents in these terms, but if we want to make real progress in understanding what is going on here, this approach cannot help.” PeopleThinkingRealEnoughHelpingPoliticalUnderstandingTermAttitudeMoralEnemyProgressStupidDebateWickedIdiotic Author:Tim Crane
