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Evan Thompson
Writer, UBC Philosophy, Assoc Member Asian Studies & Psych Depts. Married to
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Evan Thompson 10h
It can be used that way, of course. But then why not just say "qualities"? "Qualia" contains sedimented assumptions -- qualities are intrinsic (nonrelational), directly revealed subjectively as what they are, etc -- that are heavily theoretical (not theory-neutral data)
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Evan Thompson 10h
I'm not an illusionist because I don't think cognitive access is all there is to consciousness (sentience), but I also think that the notion of qualia is a theoretical term that distorts/reifies experience -- this all comes more-or-less from Phenomenology (esp Merleau-Ponty)
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Evan Thompson 10h
Well, in the technical sense in which philosophers use the term, I'm not sure there are any. But in everyday speech, shine a bright light up close and right into your eye and you will suffer from a visual sensation
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Evan Thompson 10h
But I also think this isn't something science "tells us." It requires philosophy to say it. Science gives us models with various vocabularies (and lots of colour ones); the larger understanding comes from philosophy
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Evan Thompson 10h
I think colours are ineliminably experiential (so I'm not an objectivist) but I also think they aren't sensational properties (qualia), so I'm not a subjectivist. I think they're relational and ecological properties (hence the Merleau-Ponty quote)
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Evan Thompson 10h
I think much of what I say is compatible with Goethe's theory of colour (and I mention him at various points along the way)
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Evan Thompson 10h
I'm kinda partial to my own view... ;)
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Evan Thompson 11h
Replying to @keithfrankish
2/2 "Colour is the place where our brain and the universe meet." Merleau-Ponty, attributing it to Cézanne
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Evan Thompson 11h
Replying to @keithfrankish
1/2 I don't think science says either that colours aren't in the world or that they're in our mind.
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Evan Thompson 15h
Protestants generally think faith is based on a personal encounter with God, not on blind belief in doctrines. So, part of the issue here is emic (inside the religion) versus etic (looking at it from the outside) descriptions
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Evan Thompson 16h
Sure, but lots of religions mark that distinction. Nothing special about Buddhism there
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Evan Thompson retweeted
Tricycle Magazine 20h
“In Buddhist exceptionalism, we see statements like, ‘Buddhism isn’t a faith-based religion.’ . . . [But] trust or confidence in the Buddha is a matter of faith.” ––
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Evan Thompson Feb 1
It looks bigger in the photo than it is. Just a regular size Swatch with the Pleiades constellation on its face (a gift from me da
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Evan Thompson retweeted
David King Jan 30
“Why Buddhism is True”, turns out to mean “why some core ideas, and takeaways from modern, American, naturalistic Buddhist thought can be made consistent with Evolutionary Psychology” ( Evan Thompson ‘Why I am not a Buddhist’ p. 62)
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Evan Thompson retweeted
Lion's Roar Jan 31
Scholar Evan Thompson talks to Sam Littlefair about his new book "Why I Am Not a Buddhist," his criticisms of modern Buddhism, and his hopes for a more cosmpolitan Buddhism.
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Evan Thompson retweeted
Tricycle Magazine Jan 28
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, scholar Evan Thompson discusses his new book—provocatively titled Why I’m Not a Buddhist—arguing that Buddhism and science are not uniquely compatible, despite what many have claimed.
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Evan Thompson Feb 1
Happy Feast of St. Brigid, who, among her many miracles, is said to have turned water into beer.
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Evan Thompson Feb 1
It's from Vasubandhu's Trisvabhāvanirdeśa, though I don't know whether it appears in earlier texts (and it's debated, I believe, whether that text was actually authored by Vasubandhu)
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Evan Thompson retweeted
Beloved public intellectual William James Jan 31
mentions me in this interview, and also says some other wise things about science, religion, and the self; I should probably buy and also read his book
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Evan Thompson Jan 31
Why Evan Thompson Isn't a Buddhist
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