Robert Kirk

contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy (Philosophy of Mind)

b. 1937

Robert Kirk is a British analytic philosopher at the University of Nottingham, best known for introducing the philosophical zombie thought experiment in 1974 and for his sustained work on consciousness, physicalism, and the explanatory gap. Notably, he later reversed his position and argued against the conceivability of zombies, defending a physicalist account of consciousness.

Notable Achievements

Introduced the philosophical zombie thought experiment in 'Sentience and Behaviour' (1974)

Authored 'Zombies and Consciousness' (2005), arguing against zombie conceivability

Authored 'Raw Feeling: A Philosophical Account of the Essence of Consciousness' (1994)

Developed a physicalist framework for explaining phenomenal consciousness

Contributed to debates on the explanatory gap and a priori deducibility of consciousness

Positions & Arguments(1)

Consciousness & Mind

claim

Whether a priori deducibility from the explanans is sufficient for explaining consciousness depends in part on the nature of the premises from which the deduction proceeds