Philosophy- the Physicalist
A physicalist is one who believes that all information is physical. This is a view that sees all factual knowledge as that which can be formulated as a statement about physical objects and activities. Thus, the language of science can be reduced to thirdPerson descriptions. Philosopher Frank Jackson, an anti-physicalist, proposes the knowledge argument against physicalism, which goes as follows:Suppose that there is a brilliant neuroscientist, let's call her Mary, who for her whole life has lived in a black and white room. Now Mary has learned every physical fact about everything there is to know in life. She's observed the outside world and learned these physical facts by watching other people's experiences and reactions yet all in black and white. One day she is let out of the colorless room and sees a red rose for the first time. Despite the fact that she knows everything physical there is to know about roses and people's reactions to roses, she still learns something new at the instant she sees the color red for the first time.This knowledge argument can be summed up as so:P1: If physicalism is true, then one can know all the f
A physicalist would use this argument to show that no new information was learned, thereby enforcing their theory that all information is physical. The problem with using words like "knows" is that it seems as if for one to "know red" it would entail actually seeing it. Another example of learning something in a new way is the Clark Kent/Superman analogy. Without having this, it would be impossible for him to say that he "knows" what its like to be a bat even though he may know all physical aspects of bat life. When she finds out that they are the same person, she does not suddenly learn some new physical data that she didn't know before. Jackson's argument is pretty convincing in supporting the anti-physicalist view. acts there are just by knowing all the physical facts. Levine claims that Jackson's problem is that he trying to make an epistemological issue into a metaphysical one without an adequate explanation. P2: Mary knows all physical information. Lois Lane, who is in love with Superman, is also in love with Clark Kent because they are the same person. In other words, the problem with Mary is the fact that she is "hooked up" to her environment in a different way. By saying that Mary "learns something new", Jackson is implying that phenomenal properties are physical ones. In order for a researcher to say that he "knows" what its like to navigate by radar, he would have to actually be an organism with a radar in his head. Levine's problem stems from the way Mary supposedly "learns" the new information.
Common topics in this essay:
Clark Kent,
P2 Mary,
Frank Jackson,
Jackson Physicalist,
Levine Jackson,
knowledge argument,
Lois Lane,
physical information,
knowing physical,
Clark Kent/Superman,
mary physical information,
learned physical,
mary hooked,
explanatory gap,
phenomenal properties,
agrees mary,
mary physical,
example learning,
|
Acceptance Essays
