Lexicon of Arguments

 

I 203
Content/experience/phenomenal belief/Chalmers:
1. What do our concepts like "consciousness" or "red experience" actually pick out (in a given world)?
>Experience, >Consciousness/Chalmers, >Reference.
2. What constitutes the content of these concepts, is it determined by the psychological nature alone, or also by the phenomenal?
>Concepts, >Phenomena.
I 204
Zombie: could it have the same intensions of beliefs as I do? If it is subject to a conceptual confusion, that might be the same for me.
>Zombies, >Intensions.
The zombie could not make true or false judgments about consciousness in itself, but also in relation to me! For it could not use the term properly. But the concept of consciousness differs from the concept of "water" insofar as the "acquaintance" with the object is much more direct in the case of consciousness.
>Acquaintance, >Knowing how, >First person, >Other minds,
>Incorrigibility.
I 205
Experience: is there a public language usage, e.g. for the term "red experience"?
>Language use.
Problem: Inverted spectra.
>Inverted spectra.
Solution: Standard conditions for standard observers. Moreover, we do not want to limit the term to my personal experiences, but look at every one's experiences.
>Observation, >Standard conditions.
I 206
Qualia: secondary intensions are not enough. We also learn something when we learn how it is to experience something red: the experience of something red could have been different, but it is so. In this way, we limit the scope of possibilities. For this, however, we need different primary intensions.
Cf. >Color researcher Mary.
I 207
Communication/Qualia: Only if others can have such experiences (under relevant causal conditions), my Qualia are communicable.
>Understanding, >Intersubjectivity.
Content/Consciousness/Conclusion/Chalmers: Beliefs about experiences are central. And these cannot be the same with my zombie twin as with me. But we do not need a causal theory of knowledge. We can even refer to experiences by assuming a property dualism.
>Causal theory of knowledge, >Property dualism.