Commenter psypaul writes regarding those (such as Sam Harris) who say consciousness is an illusion.
Consciousness is an illusion….to whom? Who is being deceived? Isn’t ‘self’ an illusion as well? Doesn’t the concept of ‘illusion’ require a perceiver (person)? Absurdity.
Indeed, psypaul. As with much of the drivel that comes pouring out of the materialists, this is a statement of purported universal truth that requires an implicit exception for the speaker, thus rendering absurd its claim to being universal.
“Consciousness is an illusion – except for me right now; I’m aware of (that is to say, “conscious of”) the illusion.”
“There is no meaning. Except what I just said. That has meaning.”
“We deconstructionists assert absolutely that all texts have infinite meaning and therefore must be deconstructed; except this text; it has only the plain meaning I intend; no deconstruction necessary.”
“At bottom there is no good or evil in the universe; except for creationists; they are insane, stupid or wicked.”
“There is no truth, except what I just said; that’s true.”
Materialism makes people say stupid things. To those who would respond that materialists don’t actually say the things that are implicit in their assertions, I say, “so what?” If a proposition necessarily follows as a matter of logic from what someone has just said, then one of two things is true: (1) that person accepts that necessary corollary and embraces it; or (2) he is too stupid to understand the necessary corollary follows from his assertion. With the materialist propositions set forth above, either way he is stupid.
There are other propositions requiring an implicit exception for the speaker. Readers are welcome to add to the list.