Philosopher and writer,
Keith Frankish is a philosopher and writer. He is an honorary reader in philosophy at the University of Sheffield, a visiting research fellow with the Open University, and an adjunct professor with the Brain and Mind programme at the University of Crete.
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Philosophy of mind
The mind isn’t locked in the brain but extends far beyond it
Keith Frankish
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History of ideas
Is great philosophy, by its nature, difficult and obscure?
Keith Frankish
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Knowledge
Whatever you think, you don’t necessarily know your own mind
Keith Frankish
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Philosophy of mind
Why panpsychism fails to solve the mystery of consciousness
Keith Frankish
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Values and beliefs
What do you really believe? Take the Truth-Demon Test
Keith Frankish
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Death
Death is no leveller if some live much longer than others
Keith Frankish
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Consciousness and altered states
The consciousness illusion
Phenomenal consciousness is a fiction written by our brains to help us track the impact that the world makes on us
Keith Frankish
From the moment we wake we are bombarded with stimuli. Electromagnetic radiation floods our eyes, pressure waves hit our ears, surfaces press against our skins, molecules adhere to the membranes of our noses and tongues. Our sense organs react, sending nerve impulses to our brains, where they trigger waves of neural activity, which may culminate in motor commands to our muscles (shielding our eyes from the light, for example). But something else happens, too. We have conscious experiences. We see a bright light, hear a scream, feel the roughness of a surface. There is something it is like to detect the stimuli; each experience has a distinctive qualitative aspect – a quale
Is great philosophy, by its nature, difficult and obscure?
Keith FrankishAllen Stairs has reminded me that we should mention David Lewis. When reading him, I feel I’m following the motions of a mind much cleverer than my own – a wonderful experience.