Questions tagged [consciousness]
Consciousness, and related notions like sentience and self-awareness, denote the capacity of certain organisms to express recognition of their own presence in the world.
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What did Eugene Wigner mean by his non-QM argument for the influence of consciousness?
In 1961, Eugene Wigner introduced the so-called "Wigner's friend" thought experiment as a plausible demonstration of the effect of the consciousness on the physical world, or more ...
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Do statements about borderline cases hold for both the vague term and its negation?
I read subvaluationists think that P can be both true and false (unlike supervaluationists, who think that P is neither true nor false), but it's completely unclear (because I can't read symbolic ...
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Common sense and belief in the existence of other minds
Does our common sense believe that other people have minds because it is useful (just agnosticism and pragmatism), or because our common sense really has good reasons to believe that other people have ...
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Is this argument about computers and consciousness logically valid?
Assume 1) You can make a conscious agent consisting of a robot controlled by some computer; 2) There are no zombies 3) You replace the computer by a chinese-like room version that behaves identically.
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What is a functional relationship?
By a "functional relationship" I mean "the way" a part of a system interacts with the rest of the system. In a certain sense it "doesn't matter" how the part of the ...
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Do objects exist as the way we think they do even when nobody sees them
Object permanence is the belief objects exist whether we see them or not.
However even if they exist, can we really claim they exist as an object that has certain colors, and thus claim they exist in ...
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If conciousness isn't physical does it imply god?
Think about it. The brain is designed for consciousness. Physical objects, other ones aren't conscious.
We know because they show no signs of consciousness. They can't move on their own, which is what ...
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What does Husserl mean by 'purity'?
I'm reading "Ideas" by Husserl, and there are several notions I'd like to crystallise or 'locate' within my own experience.
Kant also spoke of purity, and with him it was in terms of ...
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Can the hard problem of consciousness, in principle, be answered with a mathematical formula?
By "answering the hard problem with a formula," what I mean is to give a formula F that takes as input a mathematical representation of a physical system, and produces as output a ...
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Was consciousness a mistake?
"I think human consciousness is a tragic misstep in human evolution.
We became too self aware; nature created an aspect of nature separate
from itself. We are creatures that should not exist by ...
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Can the Chinese room argument be used to make a case for dualism?
Suppose you have a conscious AI and you run its code by hand on a piece of paper. Would that AI still be conscious? If not, what is it about transistors that breathes life into an otherwise soulless ...
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What responses are there to this criticism of Chalmers' p-zombies?
In this blog post, Elizier Yudkowsky criticizes Chalmers' idea of "p-zombies" - that is, a physically identical version of the universe in which all the same physical actions and events ...
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Can consciousness simply be a brute fact connected to some physical processes that don’t need explanation?
Suppose we mapped every possible conscious process or experience to a specific physical process. This, still, in many anti physicalist eyes, will not solve the hard problem of consciousness. It would ...
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How might Western Metaphysicists respond to the puzzle of King Milinda/Nagasena’s Chariot
Example of the puzzle
How might Western Philosophers like Mereologcial Universalists or naturalistic metaphysicians reply to this?
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If some people don't have an internal monologue, is that a problem for arguments for the existence of other minds?
https://www.verywellmind.com/does-everyone-have-an-inner-monologue-6831748
All arguments in favor of the existence of other minds claim that other people have minds similar to my mind.
My mind is ...
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What would a possible solution to the hard problem of consciousness look like?
The hard problem of consciousness is stated as-
'why objective, mechanical processing can give rise to subjective experiences.'
The reason I ask this question is that if we do not even know what a ...
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Is the hard problem of consciousness a question about why a person, as an entity which can experience, exists?
The hard problem of consciousness is stated as-
'why objective, mechanical processing can give rise to subjective experiences.'
If we assume the universe to be a Turing machine, it appears to me that ...
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Is there a mathematical grounding for functionalism?
Take the sep definition of functionalism:
Functionalism in the philosophy of mind is the doctrine that what makes something a mental state of a particular type does not depend on its internal ...
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In line with Roger's Penrose argumentation, why is human mind not computable, when large language models are?
Roger Penrose famously from Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem, that human mind is not computable, because mathematical intuition is not computable (a mathematician can prove more than any formal system, ...
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I read this quote in the book A Cyborg Manifesto. Could someone explain it in layperson terms
Ambivalence towards the disrupted unities mediated by high-tech culture requires not
sorting consciousness into categories of ‘clear-sighted critique grounding a
solid political epistemology’ versus ‘...
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Ned Block, David Chalmers, phenomenal vs access consciousness
What is the difference between "access" consciousness and "phenomenal" consciousness as described by Ned Block? Loosely it seems like "access" consciousness is with ...
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Does a rock falling down a hill perform computation?
Imagine a rock in the shape of a chessboard with pieces in a certain configuration.
Throw the rock down a particular hill. The hill is shaped in such a way that, given the correct throw, the ...
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Electron's behavior: A Solution to the Hard Problem of Consciousness? [closed]
In recent years, the hard problem of consciousness has been a subject of intense debate and discussion in the field of philosophy and cognitive science. Many researchers and scholars have proposed ...
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Could there be higher level emergent phenomena from more complex systems with properties different from consciousness?
My original question may have been unclear. Most answers seem to miss my point. So I'll try to restate it.
Can you speculate about an entirely new higher level phenomena that might emerge from a ...
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How do eliminativists and illusionists about consciousness justify use of scientific data?
The data ultimately comes into the scientists brain through his senses. He has to read the device, read the meter... read the computer screen... or something. If consciousness does not exist, or ...
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Where does this concept of existence fall?
In exploring the questions of existence, I came to this concept. I am curious if anyone has any feedback or can point me to any other materials or ideas that relate to this? I am sure I am not the ...
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Union of Cosmopsychism and the Many Worlds Interpretation
My question relates to the following essay:
Cosmopsychism and the Many Worlds Interpretation: A Monistic Perspective on Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics
The essay explores the combination of ...
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Seeking Clarification on the Terminology Used in Spinoza and Locke's Epistemologies
I'm currently studying the works of Spinoza and Locke and I'm struggling to fully comprehend their respective epistemologies. Specifically, I'm trying to understand the relationship between Spinoza's ...
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How could we disprove the notion that society is a conscious entity?
Humans are made up of billions of cells.
You and I are human, and we can perceive our existence.
Cells and their consciousness can be debatable, but they indeed operate in a way that indicates they ...
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Is it implausible to claim consciousness is a fundamental?
The notion of fundamentality, as it is used in metaphysics, aims to
capture the idea that there is something basic or primitive in the
world. This metaphysical notion is related to the vernacular use ...
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What are the different types/levels of consciousness in the experiencing of feelings?
What type of consciousness is the mere experience of having a feeling. So one has a feeling of anger, happiness, excitement, etc. By the word "mere," I mean the feeling is not reflected on;...
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Do distinctions and concepts exist?
Before answering the question, keep in mind that I am a second-year Biology student, with a lack of formal study in Philosophy.
Original post: I believe, all definitions, words, and concepts (...
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How meaningful is the notion of now here on Earth?
Special relativity and the lack of a now moment is causing me a bit of grief.
How meaningful is the notion of now here on Earth between each of us? Does the lack of an objective now moment in any way ...
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Relation between free will and consciousness
What is the relationship between consciousness and free will ? Many scientists think there is no free will.
And does free will mean a phenomenon not bound by cause and effect ?
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Please clarify this answer about the argument
I did not understand how this argument should sound.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/#BestExpl
The article reads as follows: On this way of thinking, mental states are taken to be inner ...
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Is this statement convincing and good? [closed]
There is the following wording:
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.
What type of argument is this?
If we use this argument in favor of the existence ...
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Are perceptual arguments convincing and good?
Are the perceptual arguments for the existence of other minds convincing and good?
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/#PercKnowOtheMind
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/#...
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How do ordinary people and scientists maintain their belief that other people also have minds? [duplicate]
How do ordinary people and scientists maintain their belief that other people also have minds?
Which do ordinary people and scientists use arguments for their belief that other people also have minds?
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Is there a non-circular definition of consciousness?
All the definitions of consciousness I have come across seem to be circular. It is usually defined to be "experience", or "something that it is like to be". But that is circular. ...
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In Book V, Proposition XXIII, Spinoza appears to argue that the human mind is partially eternal
In Book V, Proposition XXIII, Spinoza argues: "The human mind cannot be absolutely destroyed with the body, but there remains of it something which is eternal."
I read through the argument ...
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Are there any relevant philosophers who’ve touched on the points raised?
Below is a summary of my thoughts on reality and human consciousness:
Man I watched Michio Kaku talk about quantum mechanics/spirituality and finished reading that declassified CIA document about ...
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What arguments can I use to justify my belief in other minds? [duplicate]
What arguments can I use to justify my belief in other minds?
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/
Here are all the arguments in favor of the existence of other minds, but I do not ...
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What's the solution to the problem of other minds? [duplicate]
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/
I have never understood what the solution to the problem of other minds is.
At first, the article said that:
"One standard line of reply to this ...
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Which do ordinary people and scientists use arguments for their belief that other people also have minds? [duplicate]
Which do ordinary people use arguments for their belief that other people also have minds?
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What is the name of this view, that consciousness builds reality?
The following is really my own conception, but I have no credentials in philosophy. Nevertheless, I find it quite compelling.
It is said (Hegel?) that mind has the property that (a) it is inside ...
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is there a possibility that mind still exists after death?
The link between brain activity and qualia is unexplained. But most people think the former causes the latter.
What if its the other way, that our mind creates the external universe?
This does not ...
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Giving up or Moving on. What's the Difference?
I was struggling to decide whether to put this here or under Psychology, but here we are.
Usually when people face circumstances that are hard enough to be handled at a given moment of time. From ...
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Is it possible to be conscious without feeling emotions?
Is emotion a necessary component of consciousness? Or is it possible for some conscious entity, like maybe an artificial intelligence, to not feel any emotions? I would also like to know what ...
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In a view that consciousness is illusion, what does statement "I am conscious" mean?
Is it also in the view that it is illusion that I am conscious?
Is it possible that one is in illusion that he is conscious, but actually he is not conscious?
Can consciousness be illusion as some ...
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What are the main arguments that emergence-based theories of consciousness can't solve the hard problem of consciousness?
Ever since reading Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach as a teenager I've been fascinated by the idea that consciousness is an emergent property of physical systems. Roughly the claim is that ...
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