Quote:
Originally Posted by lastcardcharlie
https://wmpeople.wm.edu/asset/index/.../nagelmindbody
The mind-body problem has no doubt been discussed here before, but I don't remember it, and in this thread I'd like some answers. Specifically, if no amount of scientific observation of the brain processes that occur when eating chocolate can determine what chocolate tastes like, what is to be inferred about the relationship between the mental and the physical?
The word "determine" is interesting. From dictionary.com we have "to settle or decide (a dispute, question, etc.) by an authoritative or conclusive decision. to conclude or ascertain, as after reasoning, observation, etc. Geometry. to fix the position of. to cause, affect, or control; fix or decide causally".
We might determine the brain activity that produces the experience of tasting chocolate. We might even determine that brain activity in the sense of "to cause" by artificially stimulating the brain activity so as to produce the experience of tasting chocolate without the use of chocolate in the mouth. That might even be said to "determine" the experience of tasting chocolate in the sense of "to cause". But how would you "determine" the experience of tasting chocolate in the sense of "to ascertain"?
Normally we make such determinations via measurements. But aren't all our measurements ways of conveying relevant data to us through our senses so we can experience some sense of understanding what the data relates to? In other words, aren't all our measuring devices just tools to extend our senses? If that's the case then wouldn't the best extended sense device for measuring the experience of tasting chocolate be the sense of taste with no extension required.
You might object that my tasting chocolate does not measure your experience of tasting chocolate. But it is a valid experiment for the general question of "what does chocolate taste like?" It can be repeated by everybody who has the sense of taste. And if that is done then I'd say "what chocolate tastes like" has been "determined". Brains in a vat with no sensory input are left out but then they're also left out of everything determined by science.
PairTheBoard