Finally – The P-Zombie! - ZOMBIE BUZZ COFFEE

Part 5 in “What is the P-Zombie? – Series

(TAKE QUIZ AT END TO SCORE LUMENS.)

(If you haven’t, see Part 1 of P-Zombie series.)

A Thought Experiment Aimed at the Hard Problem of Consciousness

The Zombie Argument is a fascinating one; so fascinating that we named our great coffee company Zombie Buzz Coffee!

So…while several kinds of arguments might involve the Zombie concept, in Philosophy, the Zombie is a human who lacks conscious experience.

The Philosophical Zombie appears outwardly like a human being. The Zombie APPEARS to feel pain and react to stimuli like a human, but the zombie lacks the ability to acknowledge that it is. The Zombie lacks an awareness of its existence.

We Are Fascinated and Captivated by the Zombie Idea!

Even, or especially, in pop culture we see so many Zombie references. We see Zombie films and TV shows! Zombie dolls! Zombie musicals even!

In horror films, shows, and video games, we ruthlessly slay Zombies, and you never hear anyone object to the treatment of the Zombie.

This Zombie killing is teaching us about ourselves. We accept the killing of a Zombie that shares human features BECAUSE THEY DO NOT EXPERIENCE CONSCIOUSNESS!

All along you might say that Zombies have been affirming life, not the opposite!

Zombies inform us, even subconsciously, of what it is to be human.

So, philosophers use this concept to draw knowledge or debate more about what human existence is all about…

Perhaps the most Famous of Philosophers to use the zombie argument is David Chalmers.

Chalmers uses the zombie argument to discuss physicalism and dualism:

Physicalism is the philosophical idea that “everything is physical.” It is closely related to the materialistic viewpoint that only a material world exists.

Dualism is a view that the body and mind are distinct and separable; a view that there is a material and an immaterial nature. Rene’ Descartes famously distinguished the consciousness of the mind and the intelligence of the brain.

Very roughly speaking, David Chalmers presents perhaps the most substantiated and widely discussed philosophical zombie argument. He extensively develops his ideas in The Conscious Mind (1996). Chalmers presents:

Physicalism says everything is physical.
The Zombie argument asks you to consider a Zombie which is only physical – a “human” that is without conscious experience.
Since such a world is conceivable yet is not our reality; then, physicalism is false. There exists more than the physical in our reality!