Synthese 106 (2):205-226 (1996)
Abstract |
In this paper I present two arguments against the thesis that we experience qualia. I argue that if we experienced qualia then these qualia would have to be essentially vague entities. And I then offer two arguments, one a reworking of Gareth Evans' argument against the possibility of vague objects, the other a reworking of the Sorites argument, to show that no such essentially vague entities can exist. I consider various objections but argue that ultimately they all fail. In particular I claim that the stock responses to the Sorites argument fail against my reworking of the argument because they require us to make a distinction between a determinate reality and how that reality appears to us, whereas in the case of qualia we can make no such distinction. I conclude that there can be no such things as qualia
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Keywords | Experience Logic Qualia Universalism Vagueness Evans, G |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1007/BF00413700 |
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References found in this work BETA
Theory of Knowledge.Roderick Milton Chisholm - 1966 - Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA: Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall.
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Citations of this work BETA
BORDERLINE EXPERIENCES ONE CANNOT UNDERGO.Miguel Angel Sebastian - 2015 - Crítica, Revista Hispanoamericana de Filosofía 47:31-42.
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