Modelling Qualia with Physical Computers

According to Frank Jacksonʼs knowledge argument, Mary, who lives in a black-and-white world, has all the physical knowledge about the world, yet she has new information when she sees a red apple. If we accept this, then physicalism – according to which the description of the world can be realised en...

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Main Author: Zoltán Sóstai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego 2024-12-01
Series:Studia Philosophica Wratislaviensia
Subjects:
Online Access:https://wuwr.pl/spwr/article/view/15898
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author Zoltán Sóstai
author_facet Zoltán Sóstai
author_sort Zoltán Sóstai
collection DOAJ
description According to Frank Jacksonʼs knowledge argument, Mary, who lives in a black-and-white world, has all the physical knowledge about the world, yet she has new information when she sees a red apple. If we accept this, then physicalism – according to which the description of the world can be realised entirely with the help of physical theories – is false. However, even if Jacksonʼs argument about new information is true, we do not have to discard physicalism. Even exclusively physical computer systems are not capable of predicting their own sensory information if they are built using a specific structure and complexity. It can be shown that a specific type of computational system can lead to the creation of decision-related unpredictability of a specific type of sensory information. This investigation takes a charitable position towards the concept of qualia to provide it with a physicalist and computationalist explanation.
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publishDate 2024-12-01
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series Studia Philosophica Wratislaviensia
spelling doaj-art-3e56b45f8bf24d6eb75705eebd884eb22024-12-19T09:35:44ZengWydawnictwo Uniwersytetu WrocławskiegoStudia Philosophica Wratislaviensia1895-80012957-24602024-12-0119210712110.19195/1895-8001.19.2.717636Modelling Qualia with Physical ComputersZoltán Sóstaihttps://orcid.org/0009-0007-8628-4276According to Frank Jacksonʼs knowledge argument, Mary, who lives in a black-and-white world, has all the physical knowledge about the world, yet she has new information when she sees a red apple. If we accept this, then physicalism – according to which the description of the world can be realised entirely with the help of physical theories – is false. However, even if Jacksonʼs argument about new information is true, we do not have to discard physicalism. Even exclusively physical computer systems are not capable of predicting their own sensory information if they are built using a specific structure and complexity. It can be shown that a specific type of computational system can lead to the creation of decision-related unpredictability of a specific type of sensory information. This investigation takes a charitable position towards the concept of qualia to provide it with a physicalist and computationalist explanation.https://wuwr.pl/spwr/article/view/15898turing-machinehalting problemknowledge argumentphysicalismqualia
spellingShingle Zoltán Sóstai
Modelling Qualia with Physical Computers
Studia Philosophica Wratislaviensia
turing-machine
halting problem
knowledge argument
physicalism
qualia
title Modelling Qualia with Physical Computers
title_full Modelling Qualia with Physical Computers
title_fullStr Modelling Qualia with Physical Computers
title_full_unstemmed Modelling Qualia with Physical Computers
title_short Modelling Qualia with Physical Computers
title_sort modelling qualia with physical computers
topic turing-machine
halting problem
knowledge argument
physicalism
qualia
url https://wuwr.pl/spwr/article/view/15898
work_keys_str_mv AT zoltansostai modellingqualiawithphysicalcomputers