Why Revelation Cannot Favor Panpsychism Over Physicalism
Ratio December 28, 2025 Song Lin
The revelation thesis—the idea that introspection or phenomenal concepts reveal the full essence of conscious states—has become central in debates between physicalists and panpsychists. Panpsychists have used it against physicalism, but physicalists argue it creates a parallel problem for panpsychism. David Chalmers proposed a strategy (the distinction strategy) to defend panpsychism by separating the essence of phenomenal properties from their grounds. This paper argues that Chalmers's proposal faces a dilemma: either it fails to genuinely rescue panpsychism, or it can equally be used to rescue physicalism. Thus the revelation thesis does not give panpsychism an advantage over physicalism.