I agree that this isn’t a method that should be used to “solve” scientific problems, but I don’t think that is what this article attempts to do. Rather, the essay makes the case that the problem of qualia was never a scientific problem to begin with—it is an epistemological problem that requires an epistemological solution.
If somebody asks you, “what is the sound of one hand clapping”, you don’t reach for a tape recorder and start experimental trials. The correct response is to reply, “your question is absurd.” Similarly, when presented with the problem of how the non-causal essence of experience could have physical effects, the solution isn’t to find an answer, the solution is to dissolve the question. (At least, that’s what the article argues and I agree.)
Epistemology here is acting as a filtering device to determine which questions are solvable scientifically. The qualia question has a nasty habit of slipping through the net.
I agree that this isn’t a method that should be used to “solve” scientific problems, but I don’t think that is what this article attempts to do. Rather, the essay makes the case that the problem of qualia was never a scientific problem to begin with—it is an epistemological problem that requires an epistemological solution.
If somebody asks you, “what is the sound of one hand clapping”, you don’t reach for a tape recorder and start experimental trials. The correct response is to reply, “your question is absurd.” Similarly, when presented with the problem of how the non-causal essence of experience could have physical effects, the solution isn’t to find an answer, the solution is to dissolve the question. (At least, that’s what the article argues and I agree.)
Epistemology here is acting as a filtering device to determine which questions are solvable scientifically. The qualia question has a nasty habit of slipping through the net.