•  10
    How did cosmos start? Who in heaven's name am I? Where on earth did you spring from? What, if any, is the object of brief travel through the nothingness of time and space? Such child-like questions have excited and still excite the whole of philosophy and science. This book treats them using a simple, polar framework called Natural Dialectic. Within this framework it coordinates the major scientific disciplines of physics, psychology, biology and information technology.
  •  35
    Freedom, Indeterminism and Imagination
    South African Journal of Philosophy 31 (2): 369-383. 2012.
    A suspicion about libertarian free will is that freedom is undermined, rather than supported, by the positing of indeterminism within processes of volition. In response, this paper presents a way in which moments of indeterminism can enhance freedom, by showing how such moments can genuinely belong to the agent. The key idea is that of putting the imagination to work in the service of free agency. The suggestion is that indeterministic processes of imaginative generativity can both belong to an …Read more
  •  35
    The publication of DSM-5 has been accompanied by a fair amount of controversy. Amongst DSM’s most vocal ‘insider’ critics has been Thomas Insel, Director of the US National Institute of Mental Health. Insel has publicly criticised DSM’s adherence to a symptom-based classification of mental disorder, and used the weight of the NIMH to back a rival research strategy aimed at a more biology-based diagnostic classification. This strategy is part of Insel’s vision of a future, more preventative psych…Read more
  •  38
    Mental states, processes, and conscious intent in Libet's experiments
    South African Journal of Philosophy 32 (1): 71-89. 2013.
    The meaning and significance of Benjamin Libet’s studies on the timing of conscious will have been widely discussed, especially by those wishing to draw sceptical conclusions about conscious agency and free will. However, certain important correctives for thinking about mental states and processes undermine the apparent simplicity and logic of Libet’s data. The appropriateness, relevance and ecological validity of Libet’s methods are further undermined by considerations of how we ought to charac…Read more