A reductive explanation of consciousness will explain this wholly on the basis of physical principles that do not themselves make any appeal to consciousness. According to materialism, consciousness is the direct result of brain activity. Nonreductivism admits the existence of consciousness as part of the explanation. Nonmaterialism, on the other hand, views consciousness as an essential but nonphysical part of the human being. In order to emphasize the nonphysical nature of consciousness, Chalmers offers a number of convincing arguments against materialism.
The Explanatory argument holds that at most, structure and function can be explained by physical arguments relating to the brain and its connections, and as seen above, these do not sufficiently explain the manifestations of consciousness. It follows that consciousness cannot be explained by physical account. The conceivability argument holds that entities without any consciousness - such as zombies, for example - could exist. All their physical functions would be normal, but personality and free will would be absent. The fact that such creatures might conceivably exist proves that consciousness is nonphysical. The third argument is the knowledge argument. According to this argument, there are truths about consciousness that cannot be deducted from physical fact. This has been elaborated above. If this is true, then the materialist argument is false, and consciousness is not directly or inextricably bound with the physical brain.
Solutions?
When taken in concomitance, it therefore appears that Chalmers and Knapp agree on the general nature of consciousness: Both hold that it is nonphysical, and that, if there are physical connections with the brain, then these are only tenuous. Indeed, Chalmers offers three alternatives to materialism in order to more scientifically, or at least philosophically, explain the nature of the interaction between the physical and the phenomenological.
The most convincing argument when taken in the light of Knapp's arguments could be Chalmer's explication of Type-D Dualism (Chalmers, p.29). The fundamental principle of this theory is that phenomenal properties can affect the physical world, and vice versa. Chalmers also refers to this as "interactionism." In terms of consciousness, this means that the physical and nonphysical properties within the human body interact with each other and affect each other, although they are not of the same nature. What Chalmers refers to as the "microphysical states" are therefore developed by the interaction between the physical and the phenomenological; the physical properties of the brain, and the nonphysical nature of experience.
A further reason for my tendency to favor this view is that it is based upon previous philosophical work by Descartes, in developing substance dualism. This view holds that mental and physical substances are separate, but interact with each other. Indeed, this view also appears compatible with the latest developments not only in philosophy and even spirituality, for lack of a better term; it also resonates well with the nature of physical laws, where there...
Mind-body debate is central to the philosophy of consciousness. Two of the most significant philosophers to specialize in the analysis of the mind-body relationship are Nicolas Malebranche, a French Cartesian dualist, and Gottfried Liebniz, a German philosopher of mind who consciously breaks from a dualistic metaphysic. These two philosophers present two divergent, yet strangely harmonious views of the mind-body interaction and the philosophical problems it creates. Insofar as the mind-body
Minds and Computers Dennett explains that what a person believes must be based at least in part on something which they can ascribe to be true based on evidence that they possess. It is impossible to believe something based on nothing; even religions have certain basic facts such as the existence of known locations or even the fact that human beings exist is a fact in and of itself. When there
Philosophy While there is plenty to criticize in the work of Descartes, Locke, and Hume, one cannot justifiably claim that Jose Vasconcelos criticisms of traditional Western views on the nature of knowledge apply to these theorists if only because Vasconcelos' criticisms do not really apply to anything, as his criticisms are largely based on straw men. This is not to say that traditional Western views on the nature of knowledge should
Consequently, physicalism or materialism is seen by some as a form of reductionism of the potential of human mind and consciousness. It is therefore a point-of-view that should be questioned in terms of the modern exploration of the complexity of human consciousness. References A Case for Physicalism about the Human Mind (the Great Debate). Retrieved from http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/andrew_melnyk/physicalism.html Jackson. F. (1986): 'What Mary Didn't Know'. Journal of Philosophy, 83. Knowledge Argument Against Physicalism [Internet Encyclopedia
As a result, each substance can have multiple attributes. In fact, an entity with an infinite essence will, by definition, have infinite attributes. Spinoza builds upon the idea of an infinite God by going further and stating that absolutely infinite substance is indivisible. This is because, if it were divisible, and if each part would retain the nature of the infinite substance, which would result in there being more than
This idea was accepted by most of the philosophical schools of the time, including the Atomists. Plato took quite a different approach and found that ideas, as noted, and saw idas as existing outside of human consciousness. Plato's doctrine of recollection holds that learning is the remembering of a wisdom that the soul enjoyed prior to its incarnation, another aspect of the idea that there are ideal forms "remembered" by
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