Single Idea 4883

[catalogued under 17. Mind and Body / D. Property Dualism / 6. Mysterianism]

Full Idea

Nagel's title invites us to ignore all the different ways in which bats might accomplish their cunning feats without its "being like" anything for them. We create an impenetrable mystery for ourselves if we assume that Nagel's title makes sense.

Gist of Idea

Nagel's title creates an impenetrable mystery, by ignoring a bat's ways that may not be "like" anything

Source

comment on Thomas Nagel (What is it like to be a bat? [1974]) by Daniel C. Dennett - Kinds of Minds Ch.6

Book Reference

Dennett,Daniel C.: 'Kinds of Minds' [Phoenix 1997], p.212


A Reaction

This could well be correct about bats, but the question applies to humans as well, and we can't deny that "what it is like" is a feature of some creatures' realities. On the fringes of our own consciousness there are mental events that are "like" nothing.