O paradoxo de Chalmers Chalmers' paradox

The Zombie Argument, intended by Chalmers to support dualism, instead forces qualia into a realm where they cannot affect our self-judgments, implying we might all be zombies without knowing it—a paradox Chalmers accepts as part of his theory. This philosophical move is unacceptable because the paradox undermines dualism from within, turning the zombie argument against it. Chalmers attempts to resolve this by asserting consciousness as a brute, indubitable fact, but that effort fails; even if he were correct, the possibility remains that we could be zombies and unaware of it.

Study at a glance

Abstract

O Argumento dos Zumbis proposto por Chalmers, ao contrário de defender o dualismo, bane as qualia para um "mundo" onde elas não podem influenciar o julgamento que fazemos sobre nós mesmos. Por este motivo, pelo próprio argumento, podemos ser um zumbi e não saber. A isso Chalmers chamou de The Paradox of Phenomenal Judgment. O problema é que ele aceita tal paradoxo como parte de sua própria teoria. No entanto, este movimento filosófico não é aceitável e este paradoxo mina a teoria de Chalmers por dentro mostrando que o argumento dos zumbis é, na verdade, um argumento contra o dualismo. Chalmers tenta resolver este problema com uma série de argumentos que tem como base o fato de que a consciência é um bruto explanandum indubitável. No entanto, tal tentativa fracassa por uma série de razões que mostram que mesmo se ele estivesse correto, ainda poderíamos ser um zumbi e não saber.The Zombie Argument proposed by Chalmers, instead of working as a defense of dualism, banishes qualia to a 'world' where they cannot influence our judgments about ourselves. For this reason, according to the argument itself, we may be all zombies and not know it. This is what Chalmers called The Paradox of Phenomenal Judgment. The problem is that he accepts this paradox as part of his theory. This philosophical move, however, is not acceptable, for the paradox undermines Chalmers' theory, by showing that the zombie argument is, actually, an argument against dualism. Chalmers tries to solve this problem with many arguments based on the status of consciousness as brute indubitable explanandum. However, this attempt is a failure by a series of reasons showing that, even if he were right, we could still be zombies and not know it.