Absent Qualia
Edited by Andrew Bailey (University of Guelph)
About this topic
Summary | Absent qualia arguments seek to refute physicalism or functionalism about qualia by showing that, even when all the relevant physical (or functional) facts are fixed, qualia can still be absent, and hence that the phenomenal is not fixed by the physical (/functional). The basic intution is that the wholly causal, structural and relational resources of physics and functionalism are incapable, in principle, of capturing the intrinsic qualitative character of mental states like tasting coffee, seeing yellow or suffering a toothache. This inituition is often supported, in arguments against functionalism, by constructing cases where a functionalist account of the mind is implemented in a non-standard way, such as by the population of China connected together by two-way radios. |
Key works | Block 1978 introduced the 'Blockhead' argument against functionalism (and see also Block & Fodor 1972). This argument is responded to in Dennett 1978, Van Gulick 1989, Lycan 1987, Shoemaker 1994, Tye 2006. The 'zombie argument' against physicalism (Chalmers 1996) is often thought of as a variant of the absent qualia argument, and the 'Chinese Room' argument (Searle 1980) is closely related, although targeted at intentional rather than phenomenal aspects of mind. |
Introductions | Block 1978; Block 1980; Shoemaker 1975; Chalmers 1995 |
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Related categories
Siblings:
- Qualia, Misc (144)
- Qualia and Materialism (243)
- Eliminativism about Qualia (56)
- The Inverted Spectrum (147)
- Functionalism and Qualia (208)
- Zombies and the Conceivability Argument (370)
- Functionalist Theories of Consciousness (294 | 143)
- The Chinese Room (267)
- The Inverted Spectrum (147)
- Functionalism and Qualia (208)
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Editorial team
General Editors:
David Bourget (Western Ontario) David Chalmers (ANU, NYU) Area Editors: David Bourget Gwen Bradford Berit Brogaard Margaret Cameron David Chalmers James Chase Rafael De Clercq Ezio Di Nucci Barry Hallen Hans Halvorson Jonathan Ichikawa Michelle Kosch Øystein Linnebo JeeLoo Liu Paul Livingston Brandon Look Manolo Martínez Matthew McGrath Michiru Nagatsu Susana Nuccetelli Giuseppe Primiero Jack Alan Reynolds Darrell P. Rowbottom Aleksandra Samonek Constantine Sandis Howard Sankey Jonathan Schaffer Thomas Senor Robin Smith Daniel Star Jussi Suikkanen Lynne Tirrell Aness Kim Webster Other editors Contact us Learn more about PhilPapers |