Frank Cameron Jackson
Frank Cameron Jackson ( born 1943 ) is an Australian philosopher. Jackson studied at Melbourne University Mathematics and Philosophy and is now Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University. His main research areas are philosophy of mind and metaphysics.
The Mary thought experiment
Main article: Mary ( thought experiment )
In the philosophy of mind Jackson in 1982 caused by the article " epiphenomenal qualia " for attention. In this paper he developed an argument against materialism, which should show that qualia can be no material states. " Qualia " are the experience levels of mental states, or about the pain or the experience of color.
Jackson developed a thought experiment that centered on the fictional super scientist Mary stands. Mary is locked up since birth in a laboratory where everything is decorated in gray tones. So she has never seen colors. At the same time it is an outstanding physiologist who knows all the physical facts about seeing colors. When it is finally released from the laboratory, however, they learn for the first time how colors look. The argument Jackson is now as follows: Before Mary comes out of the lab, she knows all the physical facts about seeing colors. When she comes out of the lab, they learn new facts about seeing colors. So Mary did not know all the facts about the seeing of colors, although they knew all the physical facts about seeing colors. So there are non- physical facts. So materialism is false.
Jackson pulled out of his argument, the consequence is that a form of dualism must be true and advocated a variant of epiphenomenalism. However, various materialistic objections formulated against Jackson's argument. David Lewis explained that Mary would get to know any new facts. You would only acquire a new skill. Michael Tye argued that Mary already known facts would only get to know from a new perspective. Daniel Dennett was finally believe that Mary would not even know learn anything new. If Mary really existed, it would be with her dismissal surprised by anything. You would know the colors already.
Reduction and concept analysis
Jackson no longer accepts his thought experiment now itself. Rather, it now represents a reductive physicalism, ie, declared that all the facts can be traced back to the physical facts in principle. Such a position is dependent on the overall feasibility of reductive explanations of what should be possible to Jackson by using Concept Analysis.
If you want to reduce some water to H2O, so one must begin with an analysis of the term "water". This shows that water is what a number of properties - that is about liquid, transparent and tasteless. These properties can be analyzed. Liquid we call about entities that adapt to, among others, the form of a vessel. Are we so far advanced with the conceptual analysis, so we can explain the properties of water by chemical properties of H2O. Water adapts to approximately the shape of a vessel, because rule rather low binding forces between H2O molecules.
After Jackson, all facts are analogous to the water -H2O example attributed to the physical facts. Since this reduction by conceptual analysis - that is independent of experience - should be possible, Jackson is attributed to the a priori physicalism.
Works
Monographs
- Mind, Method, and Conditionals: Selected Essays, Routledge, 1998
- From Metaphysics to Ethics, Oxford University Press, 1997
- David Braddon -Mitchell The Philosophy of Mind and Cognition, Basil Blackwell, 1996
- Conditionals, Basil Blackwell, 1987
- Perception: A Representative Theory, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1977
Important Papers
- " Epiphenomenal qualia " in: Philosophical Quarterly, 32, pp. 127-136, 1982
- "What Mary did not know ', Journal of Philosophy, 83, pp. 291-295, 1986