Comment by naasking
3 years ago
In philosophy it literally means "subjective, qualitative experience". It's almost certain that all animals have it, but of course the qualities they experience will be different.
3 years ago
In philosophy it literally means "subjective, qualitative experience". It's almost certain that all animals have it, but of course the qualities they experience will be different.
Almost certain that all animals have it? The conjecture that, say, a coral polyp or an earthworm (not to mention something like a trichoplax) might have a subjective qualitative experience of existence seems to be an extraordinary claim requiring extraordinary proof. I don't know exactly how similar a brain has to be to a human brain for us to say with reasonable confidence the owner likely has such an experience but I'd be very surprised if included even half of all known animal species. It's possibly not even all (adult) mammals, and indeed not even all humans if you include infants and possibly those with severe brain damage etc.
Still begging the question, i.e. assuming that which you need to prove.
How would you prove an animal has a "subjective, qualitative experience"?
I think you have it backwards: we would need a reason to think they don't have it, given our shared history and similar biology.
ok, so anything with our "shared history and similar biology" is assumed to have consciousness?
How similar is "similar"? Is it just mammals, or just certain orders, or can organisms in the other branches be assumed to have consciousness too?
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You can't prove that anyone other than yourself is conscious. It's assumed because other people and animals share similar biological organs and behavior.
That is what David Chalmers calls "The Hard Problem of Consciousness".