Part of the point I think Browne’s case demonstrates is that most p-zombie discussions contains a false dichotomy between the materialist view that qualia are so tightly linked to normal human thought that it’s impossible to have one without the other, and the epiphenomenalist view that qualia are so loosely linked to human thought that a human without qualia would be exactly the same.
Eliezer and the other materialists’ attack on the epiphenomenalist position is that its assertion that humans would even talk about qualia if they lacked qualia is absurd. This is a good argument.
But Browne suggests a more middle-of-the-line position: that qualia are not necessary for normal human activity, but that it is still possible to notice their absence in exactly the way one would expect. This preserves the intuitive notion that qualia are different from simple processing, and lacks the vulnerability of Chalmers’ theory.
Of course, it just makes what qualia actually are more mysterious than ever. But no one ever said that would be easy.
Part of the point I think Browne’s case demonstrates is that most p-zombie discussions contains a false dichotomy between the materialist view that qualia are so tightly linked to normal human thought that it’s impossible to have one without the other, and the epiphenomenalist view that qualia are so loosely linked to human thought that a human without qualia would be exactly the same.
Eliezer and the other materialists’ attack on the epiphenomenalist position is that its assertion that humans would even talk about qualia if they lacked qualia is absurd. This is a good argument.
But Browne suggests a more middle-of-the-line position: that qualia are not necessary for normal human activity, but that it is still possible to notice their absence in exactly the way one would expect. This preserves the intuitive notion that qualia are different from simple processing, and lacks the vulnerability of Chalmers’ theory.
Of course, it just makes what qualia actually are more mysterious than ever. But no one ever said that would be easy.