0G86: Blindsight and the Value of Sentience, Part 2

Well, we're really in the philosophical soup of it now. Out here at the edge of the universe, doing B&Es on a Chinese Room filled with scramblers, not knowing if our sentience is the only thing worth saving our a sad joke that should be shuffled offstage in the gentlest way possible. Or maybe it already has been and we're too zombie to even notice. We're into the middle section of Blindsight, which does not get enough credit as a master work of science fiction philosophy in my opinion. We've moved from discussion of the possibility of philosophical zombies to discussion of the value of sentience/phenomenal experience. We wrestle with the limitations of several accounts of the value of consciousness. This sets us up for discussing the connections between sentience and moral realism in part 3, assuming our sentience lasts that long. The Function of Consciousness: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness/#FunQueWhyDoeConExi Support us at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/0G  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0gPhilosophy Join our Facebook discussion group (make sure to answer the questions to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/985828008244018/  Email us at: [email protected] If you have time, please write us a review on iTunes. It really really helps. Please and thank you! Sibling shows: Serious Inquiries Only: https://seriouspod.com/ Opening Arguments: https://openargs.com/  Embrace the Void: https://voidpod.com/ Editing by Brian Ziegenhagen, check out his pod: http://youarehere.libsyn.com/s02e02-rex-manning-day?fbclid=IwAR2L2_YIJvQpcw0nx6nTSfz0GmyJ1DtWsF--vvdI9W1ug3XW7IAtU6dQ36s Recent appearances: Thomas was just on Cog Dis talking trash about me. You should go listen and then talk trash about everyone involved to defend my honor. CONTENT PREVIEW: Blindsight and Moral Realism