Philosophy Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [qualia]

Qualia refers to the phenomenal character of subjective experience.

Qualia are the phenomenal character of subjective experience and constitute a central topic in the philosophy of mind and especially the mind-body problem, involving such questions as what qualia are, what kinds of things have them, and how, if at all, they can be explained.

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Which signs indicate consciousness in other beings?

There are arguments confirming and denying that animals have consciousness. Some arguments say that not even all humans have consciousness, e.g. small babies. Which observable signs do exist that indicate that another being (animal, baby, ...) may…
Bob
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How is subjective experience of color mapped to the visible spectrum?

Kevin Warwick had a sonar sense implanted and could sense whether an object was close or far. Evidence is accumulating that our brains can make sense of "foreign" information like sonar (consider the vOICe). It can be assumed/hoped that artificial…
Ruben
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Is the person in the mirror an example of a philosophical zombie?

Consider the following situation: You are in a room that has a mirror as one of its walls. You assert/commit to that you are conscious and have qualia. You look at the mirror, and you observe your own image. The person in the mirror looks and…
Justas
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Can conjoined twins share a mind?

A unique recent case of conjoined twins having a neural bridge connecting their brains raises some philosophical questions concerning mind sharing and the mind-body problem. From the article by Dominus in NYT (she personally spent 5 days with the…
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Is it possible to imagine a color one has never seen before?

We can easily imagine any color we have seen at some point in life (e.g., white, black, rainbow colors). But what would it take one to understand and "see" a new color? P.S.: There are more colors than we see, aren't there?
Abyr Valg
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Why is the existence of qualia considered an argument for dualism and against materialism?

Qualia is the term to used describe actual subjective experience and sensation, as opposed to mere knowledge and information. The concept is best described by Frank Jackson's color blind scientist thought experiment: A scientist knows everything…
Alexander S King
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Are the experiences of the "flow of time" and of "cause and effect" qualia?

Physics and biology have no answer why or how we personally experience the color red and we say that the experience of the color red is a quale. Physics also has no answer why or how we experience the flow of time. So is the experience of the flow…
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How can you support the idea of qualia as distinct from neuronal firing when you only experience one thing?

Physicalists are people who equate brain states with mental states. There are people in this category; and yet there are many people who do not hold this view. Such people hold that there is an ontological difference between phenomenological…
stoicfury
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How do epiphenomenalists make sense of discussions about qualia?

Epiphenomenalists believe that mental events have no causal effect on the physical. They may differ in what they consider "mental events" but it seems all of them would consider qualia / phenomenal experiences mental events. Now, if someone writes…
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What exactly is the persuasive power behind Jackson's "Mary's Room" argument?

The knowledge argument (also known as Mary's room or Mary the super-scientist) is a philosophical thought experiment proposed by Frank Jackson in his article "Epiphenomenal Qualia" (1982) and extended in "What Mary Didn't Know" (1986). The…
RECURSIVE FARTS
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Should "meaning", as we experience it, be considered qualia?

By qualia - assume as defined in [wikipedia]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualia, give or take ( up to you ) By "meaning as we experience it", perhaps I could just say "meaning", but i want to differentiate from "definition" or how a concept "fits"…
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What is the role of sensations in Wittgenstein's private language argument?

In Philosophical Investigations 244-254, before talking about private signs, Wittgenstein is talking about sensations. He seems to divide this section into addressing in what way words refer to sensations, and in what way sensations themselves can…
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Are all subjective impressions qualia?

In other words, is it possible to claim that sentiments, emotions, and experiences influence people to have different subjective impressions of a picture without affirming the existence of qualia?
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Modern research on the subjectivity of sense-impressions, species, and Aristotelian conceptions of the world?

In my research on the Philosophy of Data, I've found some remarkable similarities between some peoples' conceptions of data and the Aristotelian idea of Species, the particles of experience/sense-impression carried by media. For example, according…
Brian Ballsun-Stanton
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What is the difference between properties and sets?

Is there a difference between properties and sets? To me, it would seem that the property of being non-self-identical is the same thing as the empty set, and the property of being (identical to x OR identical to y) is the same thing as the set…
user107952
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