The obscurity of the physical: an objection to Chalmers’ conceivability argument
Filosofia Unisinos October 30, 2024 Felipe G. A. Moreira
A zombie world is one where all microphysical facts match our world but no one is conscious; a zombie is an individual without conscious experience despite identical microphysics; an inverted has qualitatively different experiences. The first premise of Chalmers' conceivability argument against materialism holds that such scenarios are ideally conceivable. This paper rejects that premise, arguing that current physics provides no clear concept of the physical to contrast with the non-physical, so zombie worlds, zombies, and inverts are only prima facie conceivable, not ideally conceivable—the Obscurity of the Physical Objection.