"Philosophy, frankly, is a lousy tool to analyze the world..."

Commentor oleg has a knee-slapper that beautifully sums up the philosophical Luddism of atheists/materialists. We were discussing theories of free will and of the mind.

oleg's comment, with my commentary:

... Philosophy, frankly, is a lousy tool to analyze the world.

That's a philosophical assertion. Self-refuting, I might add.

And you are pitting one philosophical position against another.

That's a traditional way of sorting out the truth.

Nothing will be decided on philosophical grounds.

Another philosophical assertion. Self-refuting. On a par with the liar's paradox: "This sentence is false".

At this time, however, the materialist position has a crucial advantage: it has neuroscience on its side.

Neuroscience is natural philosophy-- the application of logic and inference to natural phenomena. Materialism is gibberish, and can't withstand even rudimentary logical scrutiny. The notion that neuroscience provides evidence for materialism is nonsense. The fundamental problems of materialism-- intentionality, qualia, persistence of personal identity, incorrigibility, restricted access, free will-- utterly defy materialist reduction. The assertion that neuroscience provides a materialist explanation for the mind is akin to the assertion that chemical analysis of paper and ink provides a materialist explanation for Hamlet.

Insights into the properties of mind will come from neuroscience, not philosophy.

Neuroscience is philosophy, oleg. It investigates neurological phenomena in a limited way-- examining material and efficient causes of brain function-- and does a nice job if one keeps the limitations in mind. It provides no meaningful insight into fundamental problems of the mind, such as intentionality and qualia, which are addressed with metaphysical insight and are beyond its purview.

The only philosophical hammer atheists have is materialism, so all the world looks like a nail.

Get busy organizing a scientific enterprise if you want an upper hand. That would be a hoot: scientists studying soul...

Clueless dogmatic materialists speculating on the soul is a hoot. Learn some rudimentary logic, oleg-- 'philosophy is bunk' is philosophy, and is self-refuting-- and we can discuss these issues intelligently.