A Dialogue on Consciousness

by Alter, Torin; Howell, Robert J.

• ISBN13: 9780195375305
• ISBN10: 0195375300
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-01-13
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

What is consciousness? Is it a physical or a non-physical phenomenon? If it is physical, why does it elude scientific explanation? If it is not physical, how can it be explained? A Dialogue on Consciousness introduces readers, in dialogue form, to the problem of consciousness; it explores the main arguments for and against physicalism - the view that consciousness is entirely physical - and the several levels of debate surrounding those arguments. The dialogue takes place ina university library, after hours, where the two protagonists, impoverished graduate students Tollens and Ponens, sleep in lieu of proper accomodations. Through the course of five nights and a Saturday morning, they quote key passages from classic and contemporary texts while discussing the majortheories on the subject: Frank Jackson's knowledge argument, philosophical "zombies," the inverted spectrum, epiphenomenalism, neutral monism, panpsychism, the problem of mental causation, the ability hypothesis, the phenomenal concept strategy, and more. The dialogue ends with the studentscontemplating the merits and drawbacks of modern physicalist views and non-physicalist alternatives.While A Dialogue on Consciousness is an entertaining and accessible introduction to some of the most complicated issues in contemporary philosophy, it does not forego rigor. Arguements and responses are precisely formulated and discussed in non-technical terms. Positions are considered with the carethat they receive in professional literature. An expansive, categorized and annotated Reading Suggestions list is included at the end of the book to direct readers to the most relevant and helpful primary sources.Ideal for courses on the philosophy of mind and on consciousness, the book provides a thorough, up-to-date orientation to the debate about consciousness and physicalism.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Monday Night

Late night in the Library

The Subjectivity of Experience

The Soul and The Mind

Descartes' Conceivability Argument

Lois Lane, Clark Kent, and Superman

Arnauld's Objection to Descartes' Argument

Hume's Elusive SelfSouls and the Problem of Mental-Physical Causation

Tuesday Night

Computers and Cognition

Consciousness versus Cognition

Ignoring Subjectivity

What is it Like to be a Bat?

The Need for a New Framework

Mary and The Knowledge Argument against Physicalism

Spectrum Inversion

Zombies and the Conceivability Argument against Physicalism

Wednesday Night

The Structure of the Anti-Physicalist Arguments: the Epistemic Step and the Metaphysical Step

Questioning the Epistemic Step

Afterimages and Mary's Shortcuts to Phenomenal Knowledge

The Importance of Deduction

Psycho-Physical Laws

Hooking Up to the Physical

The Objectivity Condition on the Physical

Deduction and Translation

The Ability Hypothesis

The Connection between Abilities and Information

The Transparency of Experience and Representationalism

Thursday Night

Questioning the Metaphysical Step

Superheroes and the Many Disguises of Physical Facts

Disguise Depends on Ignorance

The Cognitive Isolation of Phenomenal Concepts

Martian Mary and the Phenomenal Concept Strategy

Do Phenomenal Concepts Require Experience?

The Dilemma for the Phenomenal Concept Strategy

Descartes Returns, with Zombies

Friday Night

Clarifying Property Dualism

Why Souls are No Help

The Causal Inefficacy of Non-Physical Qualia

Assessing the Costs of Epiphenomenalism

The Paradox of Phenomenal Judgment

The Attractions of Monism

Saturday Night

Panpsychism

Phenomenal Properties as the Ground of Physical Dispositions

Panprotopsychism

The Combination Problem

The Problem of Mental-Physical Causation Redux

The Significance of Ignorance

Defining the Physical

Subjective Physicalism

Necessitation without Deduction

The Sun Rises

Sources of Quotations

Reading Suggestions

Index

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