ahmadreza Hemmati Moghaddam; Shima hadinia
Abstract
Phenomenal qualities of conscious mental states are commonly known as “qualia”. We say that a particular mental state has qualia if and only if There is something that it is like to be the mental state. Some philosophers have challenged the epistemic and explanatory values of qualia. They ...
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Phenomenal qualities of conscious mental states are commonly known as “qualia”. We say that a particular mental state has qualia if and only if There is something that it is like to be the mental state. Some philosophers have challenged the epistemic and explanatory values of qualia. They argue that the concept of qualia has no role to play in a mature and well-organized psychological theory. Consequently, this concept has no epistemic value. This paper aims at explaining and criticizing these arguments. It will be argued that these arguments are ineffective and cannot establish that the concept of qualia can not have functions in a scientific theories. The distinction between metaphysical subjectivity and epistemic objectivity, as it will be shown, can establish a scientific place for the concept of qualia.
yasser delfani; Ahmadreza Hemmatimoghaddam
Abstract
Physicalism is a view that holds everything is physical and considers phenomenal consciousness as a physical phenomenon. The Zombie conceivability argument that has been raised by David Chalmers shows that phenomenal consciousness cannot be a physical phenomenon. As a result, the claim of physicalism ...
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Physicalism is a view that holds everything is physical and considers phenomenal consciousness as a physical phenomenon. The Zombie conceivability argument that has been raised by David Chalmers shows that phenomenal consciousness cannot be a physical phenomenon. As a result, the claim of physicalism is false. Two-dimensional semantics is one of the components of this argument that plays an important role in constructing the first and second premisses of this argument so that without it this argument would not be formed. It establishes primary conceivability in the first premise and primary and secondary possibility in the second premise so that provides the inference of secondary possibility from primary possibility. Our purpose in this article is to explain and clarify two-dimensional semantics and its role in this argument.
