Powerful Qualities, Zombies and Inconceivability

Philosophical Quarterly 66 (262):25–46 (2016)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

One powerful argument for dualism is provided by Chalmers: the ‘zombie’ or conceivability argument. This paper aims to establish that if one adopts the ‘Powerful Qualities’ account of properties developed by Martin and Heil, this argument can be resisted at the first premise: the claim that zombies are conceivable is, by the lights of Chalmers’ own account of conceivability, false. The Powerful Qualities account is outlined. Chalmers’ argument, and several distinctions which underlie it, are explained. It is argued that to make sense of the claim that zombies are conceivable, some account of properties must be given. The paper’s central claim is presented and defended from potential responses: given the Powerful Qualities view, zombies are in fact inconceivable. Finally, an error theory is presented, which offers an explanation of why so many have taken the conceivability of zombies to be unproblematic, and the view is briefly contrasted with Russellian monism.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 97,405

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The inconceivability of zombies.Robert Kirk - 2008 - Philosophical Studies 139 (1):73-89.
Access denied to zombies.Gualtiero Piccinini - 2008 - Unpublished (1):1-13.
The Case for Zombies.Robert Kirk - 2005 - In Zombies and Consciousness. Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press UK.
Physicalism unfalsified: Chalmers' inconclusive argument for dualism.Andrew Melnyk - 2001 - In Carl Gillett & Barry Loewer (eds.), Physicalism and its Discontents. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 331-349.
Redundancy of the Zombie Argument in The Conscious Mind.Antti Heikinheimo - 2013 - Journal of Consciousness Studies 20 (5-6):5-6.

Analytics

Added to PP
2015-09-01

Downloads
166 (#125,172)

6 months
20 (#179,042)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Alexander Daniel Carruth
University of Helsinki

Citations of this work

Making sense of powerful qualities.Ashley Coates - 2021 - Synthese 198 (9):8347-8363.
Grounding theories of powers.Matthew Tugby - 2020 - Synthese 198 (12):11187-11216.
Powerful qualities and pure powers.Henry Taylor - 2018 - Philosophical Studies 175 (6):1423-1440.

View all 27 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

Facing up to the problem of consciousness.David Chalmers - 1995 - Journal of Consciousness Studies 2 (3):200-19.
The character of consciousness.David John Chalmers - 2010 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Does conceivability entail possibility.David J. Chalmers - 2002 - In Tamar Gendler & John Hawthorne (eds.), Conceivability and Possibility. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 145--200.
A World of States of Affairs.D. M. Armstrong - 1996 - New York: Cambridge University Press.

View all 35 references / Add more references