This essay examines and analyzes the debate between David Chalmers and Daniel Dennett about the nature of consciousness and how to proceed to explain its existence. They are two of the biggest names of philosophy of mind today and have been on opposite sides of the debate since the nineties. Chalmers has long advocated a modern dualistic view of consciousness while Dennett's theories move in a more physicalist and functionalist direction. Today, Chalmers calls himself a realist as a clear opposite to Dennett's illusionism. The essay begins with a short summary of the history of modern philosophy of mind and a presentation of Chalmers and Dennett. Then it goes into some of their most noted older theories and arguments and move on to two of the most famous thought experiments of philosophy of mind before going into their most recent theories and work. It concludes with summary of their development and with an analysis of the sustainability and significance of their theories for the development of the debate today together with some personal reflections.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:sh-46784 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Ekberg, Lukas |
| Publisher | Södertörns högskola, Institutionen för kultur och lärande |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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