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.
DE Weekly: Nagel, the Mind-Body Problem, & What Is It Like to Be A Bat?
Earlier this year, I wrote about American philosopher Thomas Nagel’s 1971 essay “The Absurd,” a work exploring the absurdity of life so central in Existentialism, arguing that we should take a “backward step” from our own perceptions to view the irony in our human condition.
I mentioned then that, although that essay is definitely interesting, I believe Nagel’s most interesting ideas have to do with consciousness and subjective experience.