Qualia, Robots and Complementarity of Subject and Object
Jackson claims that a person who sees colors for the first time by this very fact acquires a certain knowledge which she or he could not have learned in a black and white world. This argument can be generalized to other secondary qualities. I argue that this claim is indefensible without implicit recourse to the first-person experience; also Nagel’s "what it is like" argument is polemically weak. Hence, we have no argument able to dismiss physicalism by consideration of first-person qualia (contra Jackson); however, it does not force us to endorse qualia-reductionism. In the second part of my paper I defend non-reductionism in a different way. Following Nagel and Harman, I try to avoid criticisms usually presented against Nagel, seeing subjectivity and objectivity as two complementary structures of the subjective and objective element of our language. I refer to classical German philosophy, phenomenology and Marxist dialectics which have developed a complementary approach crucial in the reductionist/anti-reductionist controversy in the philosophy of mind.
"Opinion says hot and cold, but the reality is atoms and empty space."
Democritus
Jackson’s Black and White Mary (1) case illustrates an argument that our first-person experience of qualia provides knowledge not accessible through third-person means. This argument seems suspicious: if ‘knowledge’, by definition, needs to be grasped in third-person terms, it is inconceivable how an exclusively first-person experience may give us knowledge.
Harman (92) develops complementarity of subjective and objective aspects within his functionalism of concepts. This notion needs to be extended to epistemic complementarity. I refer to Classical German Philosophy, Phenomenology and Marxism which have developed a complementary approach crucial in the reductionist anti-reductionist controversy in philosophy of mind.
I. The Knowledge Argument
As Jackson (86) emphasizes in his polemics with Churchland (85) the main point of the case of Black and White Mary is not that Mary cannot ‘imagine’ what it is like to sense red but that "she would not know" (2) how red things look. I accept this argument, but not the next step. Jackson argues: "But if physicalism is true she would know; and no great powers of imagination would be called for." (3)
There are two versions of physicalism: the first, against which Jackson has something to say, maintains that every instance of knowledge can be couched in third-person language. (4) But the assumption that physical information is solely what "you can tell" is not a necessary condition of physicalism.
Background and objective. Tumor heterogeneity is shown to be related to clinical outcome in cancer patients. The concept of a small subset of cancer stem cells being responsible for tumor relapse and metastasis comes out as a promising strategy for targeted cancer therapy. However, cancer stem cells are not easy to identify and isolate. The aim of this study was to determine the putative colon cancer stem cell subsets in human colon cancer cell lines HCT116 and HT29, which differ in their aggressiveness and differentiation capacity. Material and methods. Flow cytometry was used to asses HCT116 and HT29 cell lines for the expression of stemness-associated surface markers CD24, CD44, CD117, CD133, ESA, ABCB1. Both cell lines were treated with 5-fluoruracil and the phenotype of chemoresistant cells was investigated. Side population was visualized via Rhodamine 123 staining. Relative expression of ABCG2, c-Myc and Oct4 genes was quantified using qPCR analysis. Results and conclusions. It was shown that HCT116 and HT29 cell lines differ in their stemness-related properties. We imply that putative CSC subset for HCT116 cell line is CD44+/CD24-/CD133- (4,1% of all cells) and for HT29 cells – CD24+/CD44-/CD133- (4,9% of all cells).
The hallmark of Conduct Disorder (CD) is an obvious and careless apathy for the rules, the rights, the emotions, and the personal territory of others. Aggression, deceitfulness, duress, and power over others are enjoyable to a child with CD. Children with CD pick fights, trespass, lie, cheat, steal, vandalize, display abusive behaviors, and, for older children, perpetrate unwanted sexual advances. The display of signs in younger children can be: ruthless bullying, lying for the purpose of lying, and stealing of useless things.
Frank Jackson begins his article by writing about what he feels to be a fatal flaw in physicalism. He writes a story about a girl named Mary who is raised in a black-and-white room. In this room Mary was taught everything there is to know about the physical world. The only catch is she learned only from media, which was black-and-white, so she knows nothing of the colors outside this room. After learning everything about the physical world, she is then given the chance to see color. She will then "learn" what color is in the world. For this reason Jackson believes physicalism to be false.
The cancer stem cell theory hypothesizes that tumors or cancers arise from mutations or epigenetic changes in normal stem cells. These mutated or genetically altered stem cells possess the properties of the normal stem cells such as the ability to self-renew, differentiate into any type of body cell, and resist apoptosis. Hence, the cancer stem cells (CSC) are named so. It is also suggested that because of the above-mentioned properties of the cancer stem cells, the current anti-cancer therapies are not entirely successful (Gil et al, 2008). Despite surgery and other therapies, even if very few of these cancer stem cells survive, they can continue to act as a source for more tumors, even though the therapies eliminate all visible signs of cancer.
Hu X, Cheng Y. Possible participation of receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) in the origin of cancer stem cells in diabetic patients with colon cancer. Med Hypotheses. 2013 May;80(5):620-3.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder is a pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior lasting at least six months, during which four (or more) of the following are present:
My rationale for writing this paper is to know what oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is and its effect on age, gender, and concurring behaviors (comorbidity) like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder (CD). How these conditions are affected in getting the proper diagnosis and treatment for ODD. Loeber, Burke, and Pardini reported in clinical groups among children, ODD is listed as one of the most commonly known behavioral disorders (as cited in Kazdin, 1995). Stringaris and Goodman (2009) found ODD is apparently very important among adolescents because of its strong connection with a large assortment of fully developed mental health disorders such as (as cited by Kim-Cohen et all., 2003, Nock, Kazdin, Hiripi, & Kessler, 2007) conduct disorder (CD) and an introverted disorder (as cited by Burke, Loeber, Lahey, & Rathouz, 2005; Costello, Mustillo, Erkanli, Keeler, & Angold, 2003; Ford, Goodman, & Meltzer, 2003).
In this essay I will argue that Rosenthal's Higher Order Thought Theory provides a possible account of conscious awareness, in doing so addresses and gets to solve the mind-body problem for that particular mental phenomenon.
A mind-independent conception implies that no matter what thoughts a person has on a certain topic, this topic possesses a value on itself. The value is independent of the mind and evaluative attitudes that the person might have.
Weis, R. (2008). Introduction to abnormal child and adolescent psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
In times of emergency, life and death, and tragic despair, people often are reminded of the umbrella of stress that hangs over us. With such a world people live in today, at times its common to be caught up in the minor details of life; rather than enjoying the beauty of it all. Almost everyday, we live in a sheltered life, hidden away in our communities, just trying to skate by. But there are sometimes moments that occur in a lifetime, where that sheltered routine, that is so ingrained in our minds, is taken upon differently. August 29, 2005, day one of hurricane Katrina; this date, is one that is permanently ingrained in thousands of citizens of New Orleans. On this day, people have seen family members drown, houses destroyed, as well as the memories of such a beautiful city float by them. Because of this one day, that umbrella of stress hanging over these people is present for a life time. The enormous amount of stress that hurricane Katrina victims have gone through have not only resulted in physical health issues, but a psychological sickness no other than post-traumatic stress disorder. But who is to blame for such an event? Some might say it is just natures course, but this blame should be put on no one other than the United States government. Due to the poorly planned evacuation process of the United States government, as well as post hurricane Katrina living conditions, the citizens of New Orleans who underwent intense psychological stress have a significantly increased likelihood of being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Functionalism is a materialist stance in the philosophy of mind that argues that mental states are purely functional, and thus categorized by their input and output associations and causes, rather than by the physical makeup that constitutes its parts. In this manner, functionalism argues that as long as something operates as a conscious entity, then it is conscious. Block describes functionalism, discusses its inherent dilemmas, and then discusses a more scientifically-driven counter solution called psychofunctionalism and its failings as well. Although Block’s assertions are cogent and well-presented, the psychofunctionalist is able to provide counterarguments to support his viewpoint against Block’s criticisms. I shall argue that though both concepts are not without issue, functionalism appears to satisfy a more acceptable description that philosophers can admit over psychofunctionalism’s chauvinistic disposition that attempts to limit consciousness only to the human race.
The 'mind-body' problem has troubled philosophers for centuries. This is because no human being has been able to sufficiently explain how the mind actually works and how this mind relates to the body - most importantly to the brain. If this were not true then there would not be such heated debates on the subject. No one objects to the notion that the Earth revolves around the sun because it is empirical fact. However, there is no current explanation on the mind that can be accepted as fact. In 'What is it like to be a bat?', Thomas Nagel does not attempt to solve this 'problem'. Instead, he attempts to reject the reductionist views with his argument on subjectivity. He examines the difficulties of the mind-body problem by investigating the conscious experience of an organism, which is usually ignored by the reductionists. Unfortunately, his arguments contain some flaws but they do shed some light as to why the physicalist view may never be able to solve the mind-body problem.
But, “human persons have an ‘inner’ dimension that is just as important as the ‘outer’ embodiment” (Cortez, 71). The “inner” element cannot be wholly explained by the “outer” embodiment, but it does give rise to inimitable facets of the human life, such as human dignity and personal identity. The mind-body problem entails two theories, dualism and physicalism. Dualism contends that distinct mental and physical realms exist, and they both must be taken into account. Its counterpart (weak) physicalism views the human as being completely bodily and physical, encompassing no non-physical, or spiritual, substances.
Gelfand, D. M., Jenson, W. R. & Drew, C. J. (1988). Understanding child behavior Disorders. (2nd ed.). Chicago: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.