New Mysterianism
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New Mysterianism is a philosophical position proposing that the hard problem of consciousness will never be explained; or at the least cannot be explained by the human mind at its current evolutionary stage. The unresolvable problem is how to explain sentience and qualia and their interaction with consciousness.
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[edit] Name
The "old mysterians" were not a discrete intellectual movement, but rather thinkers throughout history who have put forward a position that some aspects of consciousness may not be knowable or discoverable. They include Gottfried Leibniz, Samuel Johnson, and Thomas Huxley. Huxley wrote, "How it is that anything so remarkable as a state of consciousness comes about as a result of irritating nervous tissue, is just as unaccountable as the appearance of the Djinn, when Aladdin rubbed his lamp." [6, p. 229, quote]
Owen Flanagan noted in his 1991 book Science of the Mind that some modern thinkers have suggested that consciousness may never be completely explained. Flanagan called them "the new mysterians" after the rock group Question Mark and the Mysterians.[1] The term "New Mysterianism" has been extended by some writers to encompass the wider philosophical position that humans do not have the intellectual ability to solve many hard problems, not just the problem of consciousness, at a scientific level. This position is also known as anti-constructive naturalism.
[edit] Philosophy
New Mysterianism is often characterized as a presupposition that some problems cannot be solved. Critics of this view argue that it is arrogant to assume that a problem cannot be solved just because we have not solved it yet. On the other hand, New Mysterians would say that it is just as absurd to assume that every problem can be solved. Crucially, New Mysterians would argue that they did not start with any supposition as to the solvability of the question, and instead reached their conclusion through logical reasoning. Their argument goes as follows: Subjective experiences by their very nature cannot be shared or compared. Therefore it is impossible to know what subjective experiences a system (other than ourselves) is having. This will always be the case, no matter what clever scientific tests we invent. Therefore, there are some questions about consciousness that will never be answered.
Noam Chomsky distinguishes between problems, which seem solvable, at least in principle, through scientific methods, and mysteries, which do not, even in principle. He notes that the cognitive capabilities of all organisms are limited by biology, e.g. a mouse will never speak like a human. In the same way, certain problems may be beyond our understanding. For example, in the mind-body problem, emergent materialism claims that humans are not smart enough to determine "the relationship between mind and matter." [4] Strong agnosticism is a religious application of this position.
[edit] Adherents
- Colin McGinn is the leading proponent of the New Mysterian position among major philosophers.
- Author and conservative columnist John Derbyshire has stated publicly that although formerly professing Christianity, he now considers himself to be a Mysterian. [1]
- Martin Gardner
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Citations
- ^ Flanagan, Owen (1991). The Science of the Mind. MIT Press. pp. 313. ISBN 0262560569.
[edit] Other sources
- Blackburn, Simon (19??), Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy, chapter two
- Flanagan, Owen (1991), The Science of the Mind, 2ed MIT Press, Cambridge
- Horgan, John (1999), The Undiscovered Mind, Phoenix, ISBN 0-7538-1098-0
- McGinn, Colin (19??), The Problem of Consciousness
- McGinn, Colin (19??), Problems in Philosophy: the limits of enquiry
- McGinn, Colin (1999), The Mysterious Flame
