Posted: Mar 06, 2010 11:37 am
by pl0bs
cateye wrote:Ah. Now we're getting somewhere. I agree, it is impossible to infer presence of consciousness. But I go one step further: I say that consciousness is an unneeded concept. See campermons question in the other thread, about the difference between "simulated" and "real" consciousness. I'm satisfied by explaining the behaviour of a person, and that can be done without the requirement of unphyiscal entities.
This definition of consciousness im using doesnt say its material or immaterial. When you talk about simulated consciousness, would you say that rocks have it? A materialist would still have to explain what is special about brains that allows that to have (simulated or real) consciousness, whereas a rock does not.