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Philosophy

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  • The problem, as I see it, is that the readers mostly do not know that anyone has ever said that it is not true that ordinary humans have qualia and conciousness. The writers on the other hand all know this because they have read Dan Dennett and maybe Keith Frankish. So they would seem to be deliberately keeping the reader in the dark (no pun intended). And rather than stating openly that ordinary humans have qualia and are conscious, they make the claim subtly, subliminally, one might say, by saying "the same as us but not conscious". Commented Apr 16, 2023 at 18:18
  • "Subliminally" is not the best word. Maybe I mean that by not explicitly stating that normal humans are conscious they might be, intentionally or not, conveying the idea that this issue is not "up for debate", as they say, and questioning this assumption will not be regarded as constructive. Do you see what I mean? By not explicitly making it a premise, one implies that it isn't relevant, and isn't a "legitimate target". The reader or interlocutor is thus, perhaps, intimidated slightly and/or manipulated into not asking about this, or even thinking about it. He can expect to be ridiculed. Commented Apr 17, 2023 at 9:50
  • @MatthewChristopherBartsh I still don't see any problem. The articles you incriminate discuss philosophical zombies, not whether we have consciousness. 2. "they might be, intentionally or not" There is no reason to see this as intentional. leaving obvious premises implicit is not only standard practice but in fact what everybody does. We do it in ordinary life because time is of the essence and we don't want to be fussy, and academics do it because they assume the reader can do the maths. These articles are also not for the general population. They are targeted at an informed audience. Commented Apr 20, 2023 at 8:56