DE Weekly: Frank Jackson, Physicalism, & Mary’s Room

Last week, I wrote about Thomas Nagel’s 1971 essay “What Is It Like to Be A Bat?”. I emphasized how one of the conclusions of the essay is that we cannot fully understand everything if we use only a physicalist, materialist lens; some things require a deeper understanding of mind and consciousness.

Today, I’m going to introduce you to a thought experiment that reinforces this notion. It was invented by Australian philosopher Frank Jackson and is called “Mary’s Room.” It is one of the strongest challenges to reductionist physicalism and an interesting foray into the philosophy of mind.