In the 22nd episode of Active Inference Insights, philosopher of mind and cognitive scientist Krys Dolega and Darius discuss the life and work of the late, great Daniel Dennett, before moving onto the role of attention in our mental lives and its relationship to phenomenal experience. In the final part of this podcast, Krys and Darius unpick the somewhat controversial The Emperor’s New Markov Blankets paper, focussing on the extent to which the free energy principle and active inference can provide deep insights into the nature of reality.

Professor Thomas Metzinger might be the important philosopher of mind alive today. In this episode of Active Inference Insights, he and Darius dive headfirst into the murky, muddy waters of self-models, intentionality relations, consciousness metaphysics, phenomenology, and, last but not least, the question of whether there can be such a thing as a pure awareness state. This last question is the central topic of Professor Metzinger’s new book, The Elephant and the Blind.

There is no better person to outline the fundamental philosophical implications of the Free Energy Principle than today’s guest: Kathryn Nave. Tune in to hear about Kathryn’s new book on active inference, as well as her conceptions of agency, the self, interiority, exteriority and much more. She and Darius also discuss visual phenomenology and why percepts can be ultimately described as intermediary.