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Philosopher Keith Frankish interviews leading philosophers of mind and cognitive scientistsThemes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Philosophy of mind interviews • Consciousness theories • Representation, intentionality, introspection • Phenomenal consciousness debates, illusionism • Sensation vs perception, blindsight • Artificial agents, large language models, artificial consciousness • Digital ecology and misinformation pollutionThis podcast features in-depth interviews with philosophers of mind and cognitive scientists about how to understand the mind using tools from both philosophy and empirical research. Conversations typically begin with guests’ backgrounds and intellectual influences before moving into detailed discussion of major debates in consciousness studies, including how (or whether) conscious experience should be explained in naturalistic terms, what counts as evidence for theories of consciousness, and how first-person reports relate to third-person scientific approaches.
Across the episodes, recurring themes include representation and intentionality, the status of “what it is like” talk in philosophy of consciousness, and competing views about whether phenomenal consciousness is a distinctive feature of minds or something better treated as an illusion or theoretical posit. The interviews also explore perception and sensation—sometimes through cases from neuropsychology such as blindsight—and consider introspection, including what it can and cannot reveal about mental states.
The podcast also connects classic mind–body questions to contemporary issues in artificial intelligence. It addresses artificial agents and large language models, the possibility of artificial consciousness, and how digital systems shape the informational environment, including concerns about degradation or “pollution” of online spaces. Broader implications are sometimes discussed as well, touching on evolution and the function of consciousness, non-human animal sentience, and the ways consciousness research intersects with personal and cultural topics such as spirituality and mental health.
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3: Anna Strasser 2025-Oct-12 48 minutes |
2: Pete Mandik2022-Apr-16 152 minutes |
1: Nicholas Humphrey2022-Jan-15 112 minutes |