Materialism could be a well-confirmed hypothesis that we should accept fairly firmly, but that does’t “clear up” any
problems whatsoever. Believing, today, that the qualia will one day have a materialistic explanation does not tell us today
what that explanation is.
Yes, I agree. I’m only claiming that materialists should classify the remaining hard work as neurobiology, not philosophy. On the philosophical side, we should realize that the answer to questions like “How do material brains give rise to immaterial qualia?” is “There are no immaterial things; investigate the brain more thoroughly and you will understand the basis of internal experience.”
Yes, I agree. I’m only claiming that materialists should classify the remaining hard work as neurobiology, not philosophy.
This is not clear at all—even though I do otherwise agree with your physicalist premises—because the most detailed evidence about subjective experience has been collected by philosophers, namely phenomenologists. The “hard” work probably encompasses any of biology, physics and philosophy.
Materialism could be a well-confirmed hypothesis that we should accept fairly firmly, but that does’t “clear up” any problems whatsoever. Believing, today, that the qualia will one day have a materialistic explanation does not tell us today what that explanation is.
Yes, I agree. I’m only claiming that materialists should classify the remaining hard work as neurobiology, not philosophy. On the philosophical side, we should realize that the answer to questions like “How do material brains give rise to immaterial qualia?” is “There are no immaterial things; investigate the brain more thoroughly and you will understand the basis of internal experience.”
It’s not clear who is supposed to be posing that question. The Hard Problem is usually posed without prejudice to the materiality of qualia.
That is an expecation about an answer, not an answer.
This is not clear at all—even though I do otherwise agree with your physicalist premises—because the most detailed evidence about subjective experience has been collected by philosophers, namely phenomenologists. The “hard” work probably encompasses any of biology, physics and philosophy.
Could you taboo “material”/”immaterial”. In particular are, say, video game characters “material”?