The Paradox of Thought: A Proof of God’s Existence from the Hard Problem of Consciousness
This paper uses a paradox inherent in any solution to the Hard Problem of Consciousness to argue for God’s existence. The paper assumes we are “thought machines”, reading the state of a relevant physical medium and then outputting corresponding thoughts. However, the existence of such a thought mach...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2017]
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| In: |
Philosophy & theology
Year: 2017, Volume: 29, Issue: 1, Pages: 169-190 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Human being
/ Consciousness
/ Philosophy of mind
/ World
/ Proof of God's existence
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| IxTheo Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism NBC Doctrine of God NBD Doctrine of Creation NBE Anthropology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This paper uses a paradox inherent in any solution to the Hard Problem of Consciousness to argue for God’s existence. The paper assumes we are “thought machines”, reading the state of a relevant physical medium and then outputting corresponding thoughts. However, the existence of such a thought machine is impossible, since it needs an infinite number of point-representing sensors to map the physical world to conscious thought. This paper shows that these sensors cannot exist, and thus thought cannot come solely from our physical world. The only possible explanation is something outside, argued to be God. |
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| ISSN: | 0890-2461 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Philosophy & theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.5840/philtheol2016111676 |