Immaginare e sperimentare. Gli zombie e il problema della coscienza fenomenica
Rivista di Estetica January 30, 2019 Michele Di Francesco, Alfredo Tomasetta
Thought experiments about phenomenal consciousness have a legitimate and valuable role in philosophy. The paper first surveys the philosophical and scientific background of well-known mind-and-consciousness thought experiments, focusing on problems left unresolved by scientific theories and by attempts to reduce mind to the physical world. A case study of the zombie thought experiment shows how a simple, naive intuition generated complex arguments that have enriched philosophical and intellectual landscape. Overall, philosophy addresses properly philosophical questions about the mind and is not a junior partner to cognitive science.