Doctoral Defense Ceremony Notes

Opening Ceremony

• Ceremony began with a prayer.
• Introduction of the board members:
  • Two supervisors: Professor Slauson, Dr. de Bruyne.
  • Committee of Opposition: Professor Baka, Professor Carr, Professor Coleman, Dr. Giese Bez, Dr. Kayson, Professor Barring.

Candidate's Presentation

• Candidate presents for the degree of Doctor from Radboud University Nijmegen.
• Theme: Idealism - Consciousness-only ontology.
• Key Argument:
  • The essence of nature is a philosophical problem, not a scientific one.
  • Mainstream view: Qualities of experience are generated in the brain, while external entities are abstract.
  • Problem: The "hard problem of consciousness" - abstraction can't explain concrete qualities.
  • Proposal: Consciousness as the primitive, universal entity.
    • Experiences are patterns of excitation in universal consciousness.
    • Regularities in nature equate to modes of excitation.
  • Challenges:
    • Separate minds and shared world.
    • Concept of dissociation, related to multiple personality disorder.
    • Explaining perception of the world through dissociation and impingement on personal boundaries.
    • Ontological primitive is consciousness, solving the 'hard problem'.

Discussion and Questions

Professor Bogart

• Historical context of the candidate's position.
• Methodological concerns about explicit historical connections.
• Candidate's response:
  • Avoid historical debates to focus on current argument.
  • Distinguishes from Berkeley, Spinoza, Schopenhauer.
  • Emphasizes empirical basis over historical methodology.

Professor Carr

• Relationship between consciousness and the brain:
  • Brain as a filter of consciousness?
  • Avoiding substance dualism.
• Time and individuality of consciousness:
  • Passage of time and selfhood's connection.
  • Physics' role in understanding time.

Professor Coleman

• Multiple minds within universal consciousness.
• Hard problem remains in different terms:
  • Dual appearances of the brain (neural activity vs. inner life).

Dr. Harris

• Cartesian thesis and idealism's derivation.
• Candidate addresses postulation of non-experiential categories.

Dr. Kayson

• Epistemological status of mind vs. matter.
• Givenness of mind challenged by representation.

Professor Barring

• Addressing the hard problem by taking consciousness as primitive.
• Comparison with physicalist primitives.

Conclusion of Defense

• Candidate defended thesis successfully.
• Examination board's deliberation and decision to award the doctoral degree.

Conferment of Doctoral Degree

• Official conferment by the Council of Deans.
• Summary of candidate's journey and achievements by Professor Klaus.

Key Points from Professor Klaus's Address

• Initial skepticism about the candidate’s position.
• Recognition of candidate's intellectual openness and rigorous argumentation.
• Respect for the candidate's independently written thesis.

Closing Remarks

• Final congratulations and ceremonial prayer.