Thomas Nagel - "What is it like to be a bat" Flashcards
The “Turing machine” thought experiment
The Turing machine was meant to show what it would mean for a computer to be conscious/thinking; if a computer can successfully fool a human into thinking that it (the computer) is human, then that computer is thinking/conscious.
Physicalism
The philosophical position which holds that everything is physical and can be explained through physical relations, concepts, etc…
Phenomena
Appearances; how things appear to us
Qualia
What it is like to be…(qualitative experience)
Conscious experience
What it is like to be that conscious thing (always subjective)
What is it like to be a bat?
- I cannot know what it is like to be a bat. That conscious experience, that qualia, is specific to a bat. I can only think of what it is like by imagining it in comparison to what it is like to be me.
- What it is like to be me is also something unique to me.
Relativism
Relativism in philosophy is the position that truth is relative, that is, there is no absolute truth, but that what is true depends on the person. Nagel rejects relativism. Nagel claims that his position is not relativistic because although we may not know what it is like to have the same quail as another being/person, there is still a way in which the world is that is not up for debate. Our qualitative experience of things may be different to varying degrees, but those things remain the same (wee just experience them differently).
The “Turing machine”
The Turing machine is not sufficient to show us consciousness because it cannot account for what it is like to be specific conscious being. We can use the insufficiency of the Turing machine test to see that language is not adequate to express all aspects of experience and consciousness, namely, qualia.
What is it like to be a Bat?
Based on the insights of this article, think about our discussions of how to treat one another in society with respect and understanding, and our discussions of literature and art.
