Question:

Given the abundance of zombies, does this now finally prove that materialists/physicalists are wrong?

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Since our conception of zombies is now instantiated, the mind is no longer essentially connected with the body...?

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  1. The conceivability argument Chalmers offers against physicalism still rests on a premises that go from:

    1. Zombies are conceivable.

    Thus,

    2. Zombies are possible.

    3. If Zombies are possible, physicalism is false.

    Thus,

    C. Physicalism is false.

    The first premise (although my argument is a bit more straw-man like than Chalmers, of course!) is still a 'conceivability' premise: it rests on our faculty for conceiving a being which is biologically and so physically indiscernible from another being lacking mental qualia. I think that our conceiving of such being just entails that Zombies are logically-possible, which is not enough to defeat physicalism. Physicalism has within it's thesis that the world, and everything in it is physical, so for x to be possible is for x to not violate any law of nature.Yet, it seems that had their been a being A which is indiscernible from a being B, where A has mental qualia and B does not, I think A and B would be violating some unknown psychological law, and thereby not be possible after-all, albeit conceivable.

    Chalmers' argument is hard to defeat: I don't know the ins-and-outs, but he goes wrong in some place, it is just hard to find it!

    Since 'physicalism' is equivalent to 'everything is physical/corporeal substance', and the concluscion that 'physical is false' is true a la' Chalmers, that entails that 'something is nonphysical'....So, yes, it seems that mind has always been, then, nonphysical. It is connected to the "body" or the physical, though, which is part of the mystery: how does a nonphysical substance causally interact, or interact at all with corporeal substance? A big question for dualist's.

    Excellent question, though!


  2. If by abundance you mean...none...then yeah, sure.

    ...............

    Ohhhhhh....I see. Lol. Yeah. I have to agree on that one.

  3. With all the mind altering substances nowadays, gama rays, pharmaceuticals, poisons. toxins.microwaves, gene therapy, cloning, waste, pollution, that could cause people to go brain dead or insane whose to say there cant be a chemical or ray out there that can keep the body alive and still kill the brain of at least resort it back to its most primitive nature. I for one know that things could happen to a human that would affect the chemicals in there brain causing them to feel no pain and put them in a trance of a Zombie like quality.  To think that a Zombie like creature will never exist is just ignorant.

  4. There are no Zombies. There are only two things, scientists cannot do. One is bringing dead man alive and ........ Mind is definitely connected with the body. Tired body and tired minds tire each other

  5. I just want to know why the Zombie is always

    driving in front of me .... in the left lane.

  6. your the hottest zombie around, come on over here and eat me

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