Phenomenal Concepts and Phenomenal Knowledge
New Essays on Consciousness and Physicalism
Alter, Torin Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Alabama
Walter, Sven Junior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Universität Bielefeld
Print publication date: 2007 (this edition)
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2007
Print ISBN-13: 978-0-19-517165-5
doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171655.003.0009
 

David J. Chalmers
Philosophers have reacted in different ways to the apparent explanatory gap between physical processes and consciousness. Some deny that any explanatory gap exists at all. Some hold that there is an explanatory gap for now, but that it will eventually be closed. Some hold that the explanatory gap corresponds to an ontological gap in nature. This chapter explores another reaction to the explanatory gap — those who react in this way agree that there is an explanatory gap, but they hold that it stems from the way we think about consciousness. In particular, this view locates the gap in the relationship between our concepts of physical processes and our concepts of consciousness, rather than in the relationship between physical processes and consciousness themselves.
Keywords: phenomenal concept strategy, explanatory gap, consciousness, ontological gap
doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171655.003.0009
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Part One Phenomenal Knowledge
Part two Phenomenal Concepts