The Mary Argument

The Mary Argument is a thought experiment that examines the difference between physical processes and qualia -- subjective experiences within consciousness.

"Philosophers often use the term qualia (singular quale) to refer to the introspectively accessible, phenomenal aspects of our mental lives. In this standard, broad sense of the term, it is difficult to deny that there are qualia. Disagreement typically centers on which mental states have qualia, whether qualia are intrinsic qualities of their bearers, and how qualia relate to the physical world both inside and outside the head. The status of qualia is hotly debated in philosophy largely because it is central to a proper understanding of the nature of consciousness. Qualia are at the very heart of the mind-body problem."

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qualia/

John Rogers Searle is an American philosopher and presently the Slusser Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Searle
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~jsearle/

Christof Koch (born November 13, 1956, Kansas City) is an American neuroscientist working on the neural basis of consciousness. He currently holds the position of Lois and Victor Troendle Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Biology, California Institute of Technology, where he has been since 1986.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christof_Koch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_vision

Neuroscience Neurophilosophy playlist
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F625403703FA718A
Philosophy Mind playlist
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6ECC9241093D7099

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Mary
• problem
• thought
• experiment
• physical
• qualia
• subjective
• sensory
• experience
• consciousness
• john
• searle
• christof
• koch
• jay
• ingram

[invaderpink]

My names Mary :D

[EvolvedAtheist]

@invaderpink

Are you, by any chance, a color-blind neuro-scientist?

[invaderpink]

@EvolvedAtheist no... but my dad is :D

[EvolvedAtheist]

@invaderpink

However, I'm willing to bet that your dad is not a color-blind, female neuro-scientist named Mary.

[invaderpink]

@EvolvedAtheist  but if you combine us we are :D

[EvolvedAtheist]

@invaderpink

That sounds either incestuous or painful!

[Steve2323ZX]

Imagine Mary, a 23rd century neuroscientist sitting in her state of the art laboratory next to a mac classic with a floppy disk drive.

[dcontard]

I prefer the Daniel Dennett's argument that says that, if in fact Mary knew everything about the color red, then she would have known "why and how human neurology causes us to sense the 'qualia' of color[...] Mary would therefore already know exactly what to expect of seeing red, before ever leaving the room." (citation from Wikipedia). For me, this point (among others) shows that the Mary argument and the qualia concept are flawed.

[EvolvedAtheist]

Thanks. I had searched a few months ago, but had not found another version. The more the Mary-er ;^/

[philosophertoby]

Or "knowledge argument"