The Knowledge Argument and Harman’s Objections
In this paper, I demonstrate that Harman’s argument against qualia and Jackson’s knowledge argument is convincing and sound. I will first introduce and explain qualia, then I will elaborate on Jackson’s knowledge argument, what it supports and opposes. Thirdly, I will explain Harman’s interpretation of intentionality and representation. Finally, I will talk about Harman’s objections to the knowledge argument and consequently qualia.
Qualia is the way we experience our physical world with our senses. For an example, the way we see color or the way we smell things. For every individual, it could be completely different, but we would never know. This is similar to Wittgenstein's Beetle in a Box analogy. …show more content…
The Knowledge Argument is centered around a scientist named Mary. Mary is in a colorless room, and when she leaves the room for the first time she experiences the color red, and she learns something new. Jackson states she knows all physical facts, more specifically she knows every fact about colors. Hence, she learned something non-physical, in other words, she experienced qualia. Jackson’s Mary Argument serves as an objection to physicalism/functionalism; for Mary to learn a non-physical fact, that directly opposes to those philosophies of mind. It must be noted that Jackson later in his career rejected his knowledge experiment.
Gilbert Harman believes in functionalism, and he opposes The Mary Argument and qualia. Harman first defines the intentionalism of the mind. Intentionality involves mental states having specific representational contents. Intentionality could also be explained as the ‘aboutness.’ An example of content and concept is “the sky is blue.” “The sky is blue” is the content of a statement and is the concept is the sky and the color blue. This is where Harman thinks the Mary argument goes awry. Harman proposes that philosophers confuse representational contents with
In this paper, I demonstrate that Harman’s argument against qualia and Jackson’s knowledge argument is convincing and sound. I will first introduce and explain qualia, then I will elaborate on Jackson’s knowledge argument, what it supports and opposes. Thirdly, I will explain Harman’s interpretation of intentionality and representation. Finally, I will talk about Harman’s objections to the knowledge argument and consequently qualia.
Qualia is the way we experience our physical world with our senses. For an example, the way we see color or the way we smell things. For every individual, it could be completely different, but we would never know. This is similar to Wittgenstein's Beetle in a Box analogy. …show more content…
The Knowledge Argument is centered around a scientist named Mary. Mary is in a colorless room, and when she leaves the room for the first time she experiences the color red, and she learns something new. Jackson states she knows all physical facts, more specifically she knows every fact about colors. Hence, she learned something non-physical, in other words, she experienced qualia. Jackson’s Mary Argument serves as an objection to physicalism/functionalism; for Mary to learn a non-physical fact, that directly opposes to those philosophies of mind. It must be noted that Jackson later in his career rejected his knowledge experiment.
Gilbert Harman believes in functionalism, and he opposes The Mary Argument and qualia. Harman first defines the intentionalism of the mind. Intentionality involves mental states having specific representational contents. Intentionality could also be explained as the ‘aboutness.’ An example of content and concept is “the sky is blue.” “The sky is blue” is the content of a statement and is the concept is the sky and the color blue. This is where Harman thinks the Mary argument goes awry. Harman proposes that philosophers confuse representational contents with