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The Explanatory Gap Theory By David Chalmers

660 Words3 Pages

Many philosophers have debated the nature of the mind and its relationship to the physical world throughout history. They have used many different ways to describe the mind from behaviorism, functionalism, and identity theory. I will be arguing that the most justified theory about the mind is the dualist theory because of consciousness. Consciousness is key to this debate, as it opposes reductionism and supports the reality of mental states without physical form. It shows what makes a human really human.
The first argument I will make is the explanatory gap theory by David Chalmers. The explanatory gap explains the complexity of understanding how physical processes in the brain create a conscious experience. It shows the complexity of understanding …show more content…

Physical observations alone would be insufficient to distinguish you from your zombie counterpart from an outside, third-person perspective. The fact that you have subjective conscious experiences while the zombie twin does not, however, emphasize the explanatory gap in understanding how physical processes alone can give rise to subjective awareness. All the other theories seems to fail at this rational.
Behaviorism, for instance, suggests that mental states can be reduced to observable behaviors and external stimuli-response patterns. However, this approach neglects the subjective experience of consciousness. Consider the scenario of two individuals displaying identical behaviors but having entirely different mental states or conscious experiences. Behaviorism fails to account for these qualitative differences, highlighting the limitations of purely physical …show more content…

While behaviorism, functionalism, and identity theory provide compelling arguments in favor of understanding the mind in purely physical terms, they face challenges in fully accounting for the subjective nature of consciousness. Dualism, on the other hand, offers a framework that acknowledges the distinctiveness of the mind and its capacity for conscious experiences. Despite the critiques leveled against dualism, its ability to accommodate consciousness provides a justifiable alternative to purely physical accounts. Further exploration and interdisciplinary dialogue are necessary to advance our understanding of the mind and its relationship to the

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