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    Frank Jackson's knowledge argument shows that Mary learns... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The statement 'I have a green sense datum' is not a report of an inner object but is a way of saying that one sees or seems to see something that really is green

    Frank Jackson's knowledge argument shows that Mary learns a new qualitative fact upon seeing red, irreducible to any relational or dispositional claim about external objects.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Mary gains new subjective knowledge of what red looks like that she lacked despite complete physical facts about color wavelengths and neural responses.
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    • 2.No amount of information about external objects' relational properties logically entails facts about phenomenal experience or quale structure.
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    • 3.Mary's epistemic gap before and after seeing red is genuine—not merely linguistic—showing some facts exceed physical description.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Mary gains new ability to recognize, imagine, and remember red, not new factual knowledge irreducible to physical and functional properties.
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    • 2.The argument conflates learning-that with learning-how; knowing what red is like doesn't require non-physical facts about external objects.
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    • 3.Complete physical information includes all facts about Mary's brain states, so no genuine epistemic gap exists—only limitations in her prior access.
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    Key Terms

    knowledge(Distinguished from mere true belief, which may be the product of indoctrination and need not exercise deliberative capacities.)
    Justified true belief — true belief that has been arrived at through the exercise of deliberative capacities, including comparison of and deliberation among alternatives.

    Connections

    2 topics

    Perception1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    Complete physical information includes all facts about Mary's brain states, so n...Mary gains new ability to recognize, imagine, and remember red, not new factual ...Mary gains new subjective knowledge of what red looks like that she lacked despi...Mary's epistemic gap before and after seeing red is genuine—not merely linguisti...
    +3 moreShow less
    No amount of information about external objects' relational properties logically...The argument conflates learning-that with learning-how; knowing what red is like...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    The statement 'I have a green sense datum' is not a report of an inner object bu...