Picture of David Chalmers
David Chalmers is a philosopher from Australia who has specialized in asking questions about the mind. Chalmers has raised several important philosophical questions about consciousness. However, he takes a unique approach to explaining it by presenting the "hard problem" of consciousness.
According to Chalmers, the "hard problem" associated with consciousness is explaining how and why physical processes create subjective experiences, called qualia, for individuals (Chalmers, 2018). This problem is hard in nature because Chalmers believes that contemporary scientific methods cannot fully explain the phenomenon of consciousness. It is in contrast to the "easy" problem of explaining how cognitive functions work because they can be easily ascribed to biological processes of the brain using current scientific methods (Chalmers, 2018).
Chalmers's "hard problem" of consciousness has significance for human life. For one, it emphasizes how our mind and body may not be able to be easily explained through physicalism. It also demonstrates the complexity of the human mind, and it helps encourage ourselves to reflect more deeply on our identities due to this complexity. Ultimately, Chalmers's view on consciousness helps spark deeper introspection of ourselves and how we perceive the world around us.
References:
Chalmers, D. (2018). The Meta-Problem of Consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 25(9–10), 6–61.
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