The Significance Argument for the Irreducibility of Consciousness

Pautz, Adam

doi:10.1111/phpe.12104

Cited by 14 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…But now if one goes beyond the core thesis of acquaintance, and adds further claims about the nature of acquaintance—about what acquaintance is—endorsed by Russell or other acquaintance theorists, then there are other facts that acquaintance may also help explain. For example, Pautz (2017), who accepts that acquaintance is a primitive, sui generis relation, argues that this further claim about acquaintance helps explain why consciousness is significant in certain ways 53 . Or if one accepts Russell's view that acquaintance is itself a kind of knowledge, then acquaintance has the potential to help explain further facts about the epistemic significance of experience, interpersonal knowledge, reasoning with perceptual experiences, and more (see Duncan, 2020).…”

Section: What Does Acquaintance Explain?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…10 10 See, for example, Brewer (2011, p. 94), Fales (1996, p. 147–148), Fish (2009, p. 14–15, fn. 19), Fumerton (1995, 2001, 2019), Goff (2015), Levine (2019a, 2019b), and Pautz (2017). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Others attempt to reduce “awareness” or “consciousness” to a kind of tracking relation (see, e.g., Dretske, 1995; Tye, 1995). However, Pautz (2017) argues that “acquaintance” cannot be analyzed or reduced in this way (also see Chalmers, 2010, Ch. 11; Levine, 2019b).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…13 13 For proposals on how to “naturalize” acquaintance, see Balog (2012) and Coleman (2019). For discussions (and criticisms) of the prospects of naturalizing acquaintance, see Frankish (2019), Hill (forthcoming, p. 3), Levine (2019b), and Pautz (2017). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…28 28 They include Chalmers (1996, 2003, 2004, 2010), Fumerton (2013), Gertler (1999, 2019), Goff (2015), Langsam (2011), Nida‐Rümelin (1995, 1998), and Pautz (2017). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Acquaintance

Duncan

2021

Philosophy Compass

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To be acquainted with something (in the philosophical sense of "acquainted" discussed here) is to be directly aware of it. The idea that we are acquainted with certain things we experience has been discussed throughout the history of Western Philosophy, but in the early 20th century it gained especially focused attention among analytic philosophers who drew their inspiration from Bertrand Russell's work on acquaintance. Since then, many philosophers-particularly those working on self-knowledge or perception-have used the notion of acquaintance to explain various facts about human experience and knowledge. In this paper, I offer an overview of this work, with particular focus on the resurgent literature on acquaintance in contemporary analytic philosophy. After more fully explaining what acquaintance is (or is supposed to be), I describe some reasons for thinking that we are indeed acquainted with certain things we experience, and then I survey some of the facts about experience and knowledge that acquaintance may help explain. 1 | INTRODUCTION This paper is about acquaintance-an especially direct mental relation that we (allegedly) bear to certain things we experience, such as colors, smells, tastes, pains, and itches. This philosophical notion has received renewed interest and use of late, but it has also invited misunderstanding and skepticism. My aim in this paper is to dispel some of that misunderstanding and, hopefully, some of the skepticism too. Most contemporary philosophers who appeal to acquaintance draw their inspiration from Bertrand Russell (1911, 1912), who characterizes acquaintance as direct awareness. This differs from the ordinary sense of "acquaintance," as in "Hector and Paula are acquaintances" (or related knowledge attributions, such as "Hector knows Paula"). For one may be acquainted with something in that sense without being directly aware of it.

show abstract

Section: What Does Acquaintance Explain?mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…28 28 They include Chalmers (1996, 2003, 2004, 2010), Fumerton (2013), Gertler (1999, 2019), Goff (2015), Langsam (2011), Nida‐Rümelin (1995, 1998), and Pautz (2017). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Acquaintance

Duncan

2021

Philosophy Compass

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Sentience, Vulcans, and zombies: the value of phenomenal consciousness

Shepherd

2024

AI & Soc

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many think that a specific aspect of phenomenal consciousness—valenced or affective experience—is essential to consciousness’s moral significance (valence sentientism). They hold that valenced experience is necessary for well-being, or moral status, or psychological intrinsic value (or all three). Some think that phenomenal consciousness generally is necessary for non-derivative moral significance (broad sentientism). Few think that consciousness is unnecessary for moral significance (non-necessitarianism). In this paper, I consider the prospects for these views. I first consider the prospects for valence sentientism in light of Vulcans, beings who are conscious but without affect or valence of any sort. I think Vulcans pressure us to accept broad sentientism. But I argue that a consideration of explanations for broad sentientism opens up possible explanations for non-necessitarianism about the moral significance of consciousness. That is, once one leans away from valence sentientism because of Vulcans, one should feel pressure to accept a view on which consciousness is not necessary for well-being, moral status, or psychological intrinsic value.

show abstract

Spatial experience, spatial reality, and two paths to primitivism

Saad

2019

Synthese

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Significance Argument for the Irreducibility of Consciousness

Cited by 14 publications

References 55 publications

Acquaintance

Acquaintance

Sentience, Vulcans, and zombies: the value of phenomenal consciousness

Spatial experience, spatial reality, and two paths to primitivism

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About