Better be a Zombie?
J. C. Hung
May 29, 2026 DOI: 10.1093/9780198994121.003.0012 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Keywords | Pessimism Perspective graphical Value mathematics Epistemology Happiness |
| Key points | Argues that early Buddhism holds phenomenal consciousness to have intrinsic disvalue, and that existing as a philosophical zombie is preferable to attaining nibbāna. |
Abstract
Abstract According to many philosophers, something possesses intrinsic value if it is good in and of itself, without any external justifications. In contemporary scholarship, notable thinkers like Thomas Nagel (1979), William Frankena (1973), Charles Siewert (1998), and Walter Glannon (2016) argue that phenomenal consciousness—the subjective aspect or “what it’s likeness” of experience—holds positive intrinsic value. It is uncommon to encounter a pessimistic perspective on the intrinsic value of phenomenal consciousness. The chapter proposes that early Buddhism espouses the belief in the intrinsic disvalue of phenomenal consciousness. By examining the Four Nikāyas (a group of early Buddhist foundational texts), the chapter contends that early Buddhism would even endorse the notion that it is preferable to exist as a philosophical zombie—a being physically and behaviorally indistinguishable from a human but lacking consciousness—rather than attaining nibbāna, the ultimate goal of liberation.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- The Value and Disvalue of Consciousness. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics October 1, 2016
- The Pleasure of Not Experiencing Anything: Some Reflections on Consciousness in the Context of the Early Buddhist Nikāyas Religions October 25, 2023
- The Hard Problem of Consciousness and the Free Energy Principle. Frontiers in Psychology 2018