Mod 2 - Descartes' Argument from Consciousness A
Descartes, and most other metaphysicians, do not identify consciousness as merely thinking; it includes a whole range of subjective experiences
such as willing, doubting, imagining, feeling, and sensing. Because of the strength and immediacy of this subjective experience, Descartes and
others who followed him, notably David Chalmers in the modern era, claim that the experience of mind (consciousness) is a fundamentally
irreducible aspect of nature. For a philosopher like Chalmers, consciousness itself is proof that there exists a fundamentally different sort of thing
than the rest of the material world, even if he does not prescribe to Descartes more fanciful notions of an altogether separate plane of existence.
What do you think about the argument from consciousness? Is it sufficient to delineate consciousness as a separate type of thing, one which
operates by different rules than the physical world? Or, is it possible that our immaterial thoughts are actually part of material existence and not
separate after all, as the physicalists claim? What do you think about Chalmers' distinction between the so-called "hard" and "easy" problems
presented by consciousness?
