What is the best overarching ethical principle to give a possible future superintelligent machine... more What is the best overarching ethical principle to give a possible future superintelligent machine, given that we do not know what the best ethics are today or in the future? Eliezer Yudkowsky has suggested that a superintelligent AI should have as its goal to carry out the coherent extrapolated volition of humanity (CEV), the most coherent way of combining human goals. The article discusses some problems with this proposal and some alternatives suggested by Nick Bostrom. A slightly different proposal is then suggested, which I argue solves the problems better than Yudkowsky’s proposal.
This article discusses two arguments against the IIT theory of consciousness. The first argument ... more This article discusses two arguments against the IIT theory of consciousness. The first argument says that IIT is wrong in saying that conscious experiences are identical with conceptual structures; they are very different in many ways. The second argument says that the seeming presence of non-conscious integrated information either makes IIT falsified or unfalsifiable. The first argument seeks to show that integrated information is not identical with consciousness; the second argument seeks to show that integrated information is not even always correlated with consciousness.
Bergen Journal of Criminal Law & Criminal Justice, 2019
The article presents the main features of a theory of responsibility and the conditions that dete... more The article presents the main features of a theory of responsibility and the conditions that determine who can and cannot be held responsible, with a focus on different types of incapacity for responsible behaviour. The article has four parts. The first three parts answer the following questions: what is responsibility, what is capacity for responsible behaviour, and what is incapacity for responsible behaviour. Part four answers some possible objections. The answers are based on Antonio Damasio's understanding of the mind, Manuel Vargas' revisionary theory of responsibility, and previous work by the author on free will.
Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie, 2018
Cosmological arguments for the existence of God defend God as a necessary being against (among ot... more Cosmological arguments for the existence of God defend God as a necessary being against (among others) the alternative that the universe came from nothing. "Nothing" is an ambiguous term, but when clarified it can be argued that a strong sense of the term is self-contradictory and thus impossible. This article discusses the arguments Lorenz B. Puntel has put forth in favour of this conclusion. The arguments herein rely on Puntel's understanding of theoretical frameworks in explanations, which is also discussed. This article finds that there are good arguments against the possibility of nothing in a strong sense of the term, ending by considering this argument's relevance to cosmological arguments for the existence of God.
Neue Zeitschrift für Systematiche Theologie und Religionsphilosophie, 2018
Mats Wahlberg argues that evolutionary theodicies fail to show how an evolutionary process was ne... more Mats Wahlberg argues that evolutionary theodicies fail to show how an evolutionary process was necessary in order to reach the goal(s) God is said to have had when creating our world. The authors of this article argue that Wahlberg's critique fails if one takes into consideration the distinction between type-and token-values. The question that guides Wahlberg's discussion is whether or not unique type-values require an evolution in order to be instantiated or not. He does not, however, discuss whether unique token-values require evolution. This article will address this question, and argue that the theodicies he claims to fail does not do so for the reasons put forward by Wahlberg if interpreted as focusing on token-unique values. The authors will also argue that theodicies other than those evaluated by Wahlberg succeed in identifying type-unique values that can only be brought about through evolution.
Burde det gis mer plass i religionsundervisningen til å diskutere hvorvidt påstander som hevdes i... more Burde det gis mer plass i religionsundervisningen til å diskutere hvorvidt påstander som hevdes i religioner og livssyn, er sanne? Denne artikkelen argumenterer for at elever både kan og bør diskutere sannheten i religioner og livssyn i større omfang enn det gjøres i dag. Fremgangsmåten er å gi en bred, samlet begrunnelse for dette, og artikkelen tar for seg fem typer innvendinger: epistemologiske, religionsvitenskapelige, pedagogiske, etiske og praktiske. De epistemologiske og religionsvitenskapelige innvendingene handler hovedsakelig om at man ikke (med rimelighet) kan diskutere religioners og livssyns sannhet, mens de øvrige argumentene hovedsakelig handler om at man ikke bør gjøre det.
Is it rational to believe in life after death? This article has two main parts. The first part of... more Is it rational to believe in life after death? This article has two main parts. The first part offers a new formulation of an argument for life after death based on the existence of God. The second part offers a new and detailed way of how to understand how life after death is possible. The article concludes that life after death is both possible and plausible.
Concerning the problem of evil, I suggest that God's goodness and omnipotence causes God to want ... more Concerning the problem of evil, I suggest that God's goodness and omnipotence causes God to want to actualize many different values and things, not solely angels in heaven, but also type unique values like independence, self-formation, creativity, and surprise, and token unique goods like animals and human beings. Such a universe as ours, though, requires undisturbed indeterministic self-formation as actualized by a good God to give those token unique beings access to those type unique values and allow them the opportunity to live forever with God after completion of this self-formation. Keywords: the problem of evil; type and token values; indeterminism
In a book from 2011 I developed a theoretical framework for discussing theodicy, which was a comb... more In a book from 2011 I developed a theoretical framework for discussing theodicy, which was a combination of the philosophy of Lorenz B. Puntel and the theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg. I find the work of Puntel to be the best theoretical framework for doing metaphysics in general. However, I find it especially lacking in its involvement with natural science and physics. This is very different in the book Every Thing Must Go by James Ladyman et al, which is a book about metaphysics which presents an ontology where involvement with physics is of main priority. Interestingly, the ontic structural realism of Ladyman is very similar to the configuration ontology of Puntel. Ladyman has much to add when it comes to natural science, whereas Puntel has several things to add to Ladyman when it comes to the understanding of truth and the relation between language and world. I find such structural ontology to be a theoretical framework very apt for talking seriously about God. But whereas Puntel finds a natural place for God in metaphysics, Ladyman thinks that the topic of God should be excluded, and so my article will end with a discussion of this.
My goal in this article is to compare the ontologies of Puntel and Ladyman with the intention of exploring the possibilities of making them both more coherent by letting them complement each other. In part one of the article, I will present Puntel’s ontology. In part two, I will present the ontic structural realism of Ladyman and discuss it in light of Puntel’s ontology. I believe that both positions have some problems, but that they can be combined into a very coherent framework for doing ontology (and for talking seriously about God), and it is my goal in this article to start the process of doing so.
Evolution teaches us that our brain and mind have developed gradually from animals through variou... more Evolution teaches us that our brain and mind have developed gradually from animals through various hominids to modern humans. But such a gradual evolution raises some theological questions, like the question of exactly which species will take part in God’s salvation plan. Jan-Olav Henriksen discusses this question, and argues that any line we might draw between species will be arbitrary. He therefore suggests that all living beings will be saved. In the beginning of this article I shall criticize this view. As an alternative, I will in the rest of the article explore whether a view that not all will be saved can give non-arbitrary answers to the question of who will be saved and who are created in the image of God.
... TN: Abingdon Press, 1985), 73; and Wendy Farley Tragic Vision and Divine Compassion: A Contem... more ... TN: Abingdon Press, 1985), 73; and Wendy Farley Tragic Vision and Divine Compassion: A Contemporary Theodicy (Louisville KY: WJ Knox Press, 1990), 69; the last two are both quoted in Dan Stiver 'The problem of theodicy', Review and Expositor, 93 (1996), 507517, 509. ...
... entertaining. In that 386 ATLE OTTESEN SØVIK Page 5. ... someone. 3. Claudia WelzLove's T... more ... entertaining. In that 386 ATLE OTTESEN SØVIK Page 5. ... someone. 3. Claudia WelzLove's Transcendence and the Problem of Theodicy, Religion in Philosophy and Theology, 30 (Tübingen: Mohr, 2008), v (emphasis added). ...
What is the best overarching ethical principle to give a possible future superintelligent machine... more What is the best overarching ethical principle to give a possible future superintelligent machine, given that we do not know what the best ethics are today or in the future? Eliezer Yudkowsky has suggested that a superintelligent AI should have as its goal to carry out the coherent extrapolated volition of humanity (CEV), the most coherent way of combining human goals. The article discusses some problems with this proposal and some alternatives suggested by Nick Bostrom. A slightly different proposal is then suggested, which I argue solves the problems better than Yudkowsky’s proposal.
This article discusses two arguments against the IIT theory of consciousness. The first argument ... more This article discusses two arguments against the IIT theory of consciousness. The first argument says that IIT is wrong in saying that conscious experiences are identical with conceptual structures; they are very different in many ways. The second argument says that the seeming presence of non-conscious integrated information either makes IIT falsified or unfalsifiable. The first argument seeks to show that integrated information is not identical with consciousness; the second argument seeks to show that integrated information is not even always correlated with consciousness.
Bergen Journal of Criminal Law & Criminal Justice, 2019
The article presents the main features of a theory of responsibility and the conditions that dete... more The article presents the main features of a theory of responsibility and the conditions that determine who can and cannot be held responsible, with a focus on different types of incapacity for responsible behaviour. The article has four parts. The first three parts answer the following questions: what is responsibility, what is capacity for responsible behaviour, and what is incapacity for responsible behaviour. Part four answers some possible objections. The answers are based on Antonio Damasio's understanding of the mind, Manuel Vargas' revisionary theory of responsibility, and previous work by the author on free will.
Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie, 2018
Cosmological arguments for the existence of God defend God as a necessary being against (among ot... more Cosmological arguments for the existence of God defend God as a necessary being against (among others) the alternative that the universe came from nothing. "Nothing" is an ambiguous term, but when clarified it can be argued that a strong sense of the term is self-contradictory and thus impossible. This article discusses the arguments Lorenz B. Puntel has put forth in favour of this conclusion. The arguments herein rely on Puntel's understanding of theoretical frameworks in explanations, which is also discussed. This article finds that there are good arguments against the possibility of nothing in a strong sense of the term, ending by considering this argument's relevance to cosmological arguments for the existence of God.
Neue Zeitschrift für Systematiche Theologie und Religionsphilosophie, 2018
Mats Wahlberg argues that evolutionary theodicies fail to show how an evolutionary process was ne... more Mats Wahlberg argues that evolutionary theodicies fail to show how an evolutionary process was necessary in order to reach the goal(s) God is said to have had when creating our world. The authors of this article argue that Wahlberg's critique fails if one takes into consideration the distinction between type-and token-values. The question that guides Wahlberg's discussion is whether or not unique type-values require an evolution in order to be instantiated or not. He does not, however, discuss whether unique token-values require evolution. This article will address this question, and argue that the theodicies he claims to fail does not do so for the reasons put forward by Wahlberg if interpreted as focusing on token-unique values. The authors will also argue that theodicies other than those evaluated by Wahlberg succeed in identifying type-unique values that can only be brought about through evolution.
Burde det gis mer plass i religionsundervisningen til å diskutere hvorvidt påstander som hevdes i... more Burde det gis mer plass i religionsundervisningen til å diskutere hvorvidt påstander som hevdes i religioner og livssyn, er sanne? Denne artikkelen argumenterer for at elever både kan og bør diskutere sannheten i religioner og livssyn i større omfang enn det gjøres i dag. Fremgangsmåten er å gi en bred, samlet begrunnelse for dette, og artikkelen tar for seg fem typer innvendinger: epistemologiske, religionsvitenskapelige, pedagogiske, etiske og praktiske. De epistemologiske og religionsvitenskapelige innvendingene handler hovedsakelig om at man ikke (med rimelighet) kan diskutere religioners og livssyns sannhet, mens de øvrige argumentene hovedsakelig handler om at man ikke bør gjøre det.
Is it rational to believe in life after death? This article has two main parts. The first part of... more Is it rational to believe in life after death? This article has two main parts. The first part offers a new formulation of an argument for life after death based on the existence of God. The second part offers a new and detailed way of how to understand how life after death is possible. The article concludes that life after death is both possible and plausible.
Concerning the problem of evil, I suggest that God's goodness and omnipotence causes God to want ... more Concerning the problem of evil, I suggest that God's goodness and omnipotence causes God to want to actualize many different values and things, not solely angels in heaven, but also type unique values like independence, self-formation, creativity, and surprise, and token unique goods like animals and human beings. Such a universe as ours, though, requires undisturbed indeterministic self-formation as actualized by a good God to give those token unique beings access to those type unique values and allow them the opportunity to live forever with God after completion of this self-formation. Keywords: the problem of evil; type and token values; indeterminism
In a book from 2011 I developed a theoretical framework for discussing theodicy, which was a comb... more In a book from 2011 I developed a theoretical framework for discussing theodicy, which was a combination of the philosophy of Lorenz B. Puntel and the theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg. I find the work of Puntel to be the best theoretical framework for doing metaphysics in general. However, I find it especially lacking in its involvement with natural science and physics. This is very different in the book Every Thing Must Go by James Ladyman et al, which is a book about metaphysics which presents an ontology where involvement with physics is of main priority. Interestingly, the ontic structural realism of Ladyman is very similar to the configuration ontology of Puntel. Ladyman has much to add when it comes to natural science, whereas Puntel has several things to add to Ladyman when it comes to the understanding of truth and the relation between language and world. I find such structural ontology to be a theoretical framework very apt for talking seriously about God. But whereas Puntel finds a natural place for God in metaphysics, Ladyman thinks that the topic of God should be excluded, and so my article will end with a discussion of this.
My goal in this article is to compare the ontologies of Puntel and Ladyman with the intention of exploring the possibilities of making them both more coherent by letting them complement each other. In part one of the article, I will present Puntel’s ontology. In part two, I will present the ontic structural realism of Ladyman and discuss it in light of Puntel’s ontology. I believe that both positions have some problems, but that they can be combined into a very coherent framework for doing ontology (and for talking seriously about God), and it is my goal in this article to start the process of doing so.
Evolution teaches us that our brain and mind have developed gradually from animals through variou... more Evolution teaches us that our brain and mind have developed gradually from animals through various hominids to modern humans. But such a gradual evolution raises some theological questions, like the question of exactly which species will take part in God’s salvation plan. Jan-Olav Henriksen discusses this question, and argues that any line we might draw between species will be arbitrary. He therefore suggests that all living beings will be saved. In the beginning of this article I shall criticize this view. As an alternative, I will in the rest of the article explore whether a view that not all will be saved can give non-arbitrary answers to the question of who will be saved and who are created in the image of God.
... TN: Abingdon Press, 1985), 73; and Wendy Farley Tragic Vision and Divine Compassion: A Contem... more ... TN: Abingdon Press, 1985), 73; and Wendy Farley Tragic Vision and Divine Compassion: A Contemporary Theodicy (Louisville KY: WJ Knox Press, 1990), 69; the last two are both quoted in Dan Stiver 'The problem of theodicy', Review and Expositor, 93 (1996), 507517, 509. ...
... entertaining. In that 386 ATLE OTTESEN SØVIK Page 5. ... someone. 3. Claudia WelzLove's T... more ... entertaining. In that 386 ATLE OTTESEN SØVIK Page 5. ... someone. 3. Claudia WelzLove's Transcendence and the Problem of Theodicy, Religion in Philosophy and Theology, 30 (Tübingen: Mohr, 2008), v (emphasis added). ...
Contrary to Helen DeCruz and Johan DeSmedt (and many others), LeRon Shults finds that it is easy ... more Contrary to Helen DeCruz and Johan DeSmedt (and many others), LeRon Shults finds that it is easy to defeat theistic belief. He offers a recipe in three steps, but I argue in this article that every step fails. While Shults claims that scholars should focus more on abduction, retroduction and contexts of belief, I argue that they already do this a lot and that it does not defeat theistic belief.
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Papers by Atle Ottesen Søvik
Keywords: the problem of evil; type and token values; indeterminism
My goal in this article is to compare the ontologies of Puntel and Ladyman with the intention of exploring the possibilities of making them both more coherent by letting them complement each other. In part one of the article, I will present Puntel’s ontology. In part two, I will present the ontic structural realism of Ladyman and discuss it in light of Puntel’s ontology. I believe that both positions have some problems, but that they can be combined into a very coherent framework for doing ontology (and for talking seriously about God), and it is my goal in this article to start the process of doing so.
Keywords: the problem of evil; type and token values; indeterminism
My goal in this article is to compare the ontologies of Puntel and Ladyman with the intention of exploring the possibilities of making them both more coherent by letting them complement each other. In part one of the article, I will present Puntel’s ontology. In part two, I will present the ontic structural realism of Ladyman and discuss it in light of Puntel’s ontology. I believe that both positions have some problems, but that they can be combined into a very coherent framework for doing ontology (and for talking seriously about God), and it is my goal in this article to start the process of doing so.