 |
| Ann Arbor |
I've read some of atheist Thomas Nagel's books in the past, but have yet to read his new book Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False. The title says it all: atheism is true, but materialism is false. Which means that consciousness and mind are irreducible to the physical brain. Yikes! This is atheistic heresy, coming from a confirmed atheist. And Nagel is getting attacked for it.
I've long felt that atheism entails materialism; viz., the view that physical facts explain all facts. Which then led to the humorous atheistic boast of "freethinking" on materialism. Huh? Nagel, realizing the incoherence of such a position declines embracing it and posits non-physical realities. On this see Leon Wieseltier's little essay A Darwinist Mob Goes After a Serious Philosopher."
It is not at all obvious how consciousness could have originated out of matter. Surely "freethinking" is only possible if this is true.
