PHIL 1611 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Agnosticism, Homo Sapiens, Causal System
9 Mar 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Jackson aepiphenomenal qualia: the basic argument from qualia against reductionism. Therefore, conscious experiences are not describable by the physical sciences. "qualia= - simply the name given to these conscious experiences. Singular quale" - i. e. , the smelling of the rose: the knowledge argument. Example one: fred distinguishes types of red we do not - as red1 and red2. We know the physical reason why fred can do so - i. e. , extra cone, different stimulation patterns etc. , we have all the physical information. If so, then there is additional knowledge that a physicalist account cannot give. Example two: mary, a physiologist, is couped up in a black and white room all her life. She studies and knows all the physical data concerning colours. She is released from the room into our colourful world. Therefore, there is a type of knowledge that purely physical descriptions cannot give; namely, the qualitative aspect of experience.
