Raúl
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What might qualia be for? - 2007/08/09 22:58
This question about the function of phenomenology has several names. Philosopher David Chalmers call it the “hard problem” when he refers to the search of an explanation for the subjective experiences we feel when we are conscious. Qualia are the redness of red, the painfulness of pain, the experience of tasting lemon juice… Joseph Levine introduced the concept of “explanatory gap” to name the missing explanation between physical processes taking place in the brain and phenomenological aspects of consciousness.
At least one thing seems to be clear in the relation between perception and qualia. It seems that they always come together. If you are aware of color red, then you experience the feeling of redness. And that is probably true as well for other animals with central nervous system.
As discussed elsewhere in these forums, what could be the function of qualia, (if any)? Why does the brain create subjective sensations like fear when we are in danger if a simple kind of “danger-flag = true” would suffice to let me know that I should run away?
Richard Gregory [1] argues that the function of qualia is to signal the present in subjects like us that are able to have memories and imagine the future. There is a need to flag the present perceptions that need to be processed now. Qualia would be the mechanism by which present perceptions are presented more vivid than past memories or imaginations. Could this be the unique function of phenomenal consciousness?
[1] http://www.richardgregory.org
Raúl Arrabales Moreno. conscious-robots.com/raul |
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