Single Idea 7521

[catalogued under 15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 5. Qualia / c. Explaining qualia]

Full Idea

One of the crucial premises of the antireductionists - concerning the intrinsic, nonrelational, metaphysical simplicity of our sensory qualia - is a question-begging and unsupported assumption.

Gist of Idea

It is question-begging to assume that qualia are totally simple, hence irreducible

Source

Churchland / Churchland (Recent Work on Consciousness [1997])

Book Reference

Churchland,Paul and Patricia: 'On the Contrary: critical essays 1987-1997' [MIT 1998], p.163


A Reaction

This is a key point for reductionists, with emphasis on the sheer numbers of connections involved in a simple quale (I estimate a billion involved in one small patch of red).