But I do experience my own existence and awareness.
Yes you do. we all do. But is your self-awareness of that fact merely a function of your synapses responding to stimuli in a predictable way?
In other words, is “I think therefore I am” just another biological response to stimuli rather than something philosophically greater than those “observable collection of behaviours” as you describe them.
I’d argue that no, it isn’t.
We are “aware” for the same reason that we pull our hand away from a hot stove burner; neural response to external stimuli.
It’s not that we are “programmed”, as you describe. It’s simply that (I believe) our self-awareness is a biological function, not an existential one.
Yes you do. we all do. But is your self-awareness of that fact merely a function of your synapses responding to stimuli in a predictable way?
In other words, is “I think therefore I am” just another biological response to stimuli rather than something philosophically greater than those “observable collection of behaviours” as you describe them.
I’d argue that no, it isn’t.
We are “aware” for the same reason that we pull our hand away from a hot stove burner; neural response to external stimuli.
It’s not that we are “programmed”, as you describe. It’s simply that (I believe) our self-awareness is a biological function, not an existential one.