The intuition that phenomenal consciousness is not a physical property is central to debates about consciousness. Some theorists treat this intuition as a psychological illusion, while others see it as a genuine cognitive problem. This article argues that neither approach is satisfactory and presents a new argument that the intuition of dualism is a genuine epistemic problem. The difficulty arises because psychophysical identities cannot be deduced from physical truths alone, creating an epistemic gap that cannot be dismissed as mere error.
Consciousness cannot be fully explained by physical terms, but whether conscious states are identical to physical states remains unresolved. This paper surveys key arguments—such as the knowledge argument—that aim to show conscious states are not physical. The author contends that materialists lack a satisfactory response to these arguments, leaving the non-physical nature of consciousness as a plausible conclusion.