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What is the name of the belief that everyone else is a philosophical zombie? I don't think it is quite solipsism, because solipsism denies that an outer world exists in the first place. I am talking about someone who believes that there is a real world out there, but all the other people and animals are just philosophical zombies.

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  • Quasi-solipsism? Or we could go the time-honored weak/strong route and call these stances weak and strong solipsism. – Kristian Berry Mar 27 '21 at 21:43
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    There is no name for it because it is not seriously considered, and it is not a convenient foil like solipsism either. But ways of ruling it out philosophically go under [the problem of other minds](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/). "Skepticism about other minds" would probably describe it recognizably. – Conifold Mar 27 '21 at 21:59
  • Some people, such as Dennett, deny that they or anyone perceive qualia. What if those people are right - not about other people, but about themselves? Maybe they specifically have a brain abnormality that makes them P-zombies. – causative Mar 28 '21 at 01:01
  • @causative, If you include your self with everyone else as a philosophical zombie, isn't that view eliminative materialism? – Ameet Sharma Mar 28 '21 at 01:27
  • @causative [Dennett](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qualia/#Uses) uses "qualia" in a sense different than those who relate them to philosophical zombies, so he does not deny that he or other people perceive qualia in *that* sense. On the other hand, he considers the philosophical zombie concept [to be incoherent](https://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/papers/unzombie.htm), so his declaring himself a philosophical zombie is just tongue in cheek. On *his* conception, there isn't a way to be right about it selectively, or have it caused by an abnormality. – Conifold Mar 28 '21 at 09:03
  • @Conifold yes but perhaps those arguments only make sense to Dennett because he has a brain abnormality that makes him lack qualia. – causative Mar 28 '21 at 15:25
  • What's a "philosophical zombie"? – Fizz Apr 04 '21 at 21:52
  • I see that admits a more specific def https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/a/34027/13913 – Fizz Apr 07 '21 at 18:44

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