What is it like to be a bat -- Thomas Nagel.pdf

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1、Whatisitliketobeabathttp://members.aol.com/NeoNoetics/Nagel_Bat.htmlWhatisitliketobeabat?ThomasNagel[FromThePhilosophicalReviewLXXXIII,4(October1974):435-50.]Consciousnessiswhatmakesthemind-bodyproblemreallyintractable.Perhapsthatiswhycurrentdiscussionsoftheproblemgiveitlittleattentionorgetitobviou

2、slywrong.Therecentwaveofreductionisteuphoriahasproducedseveralanalysesofmentalphenomenaandmentalconceptsdesigned1toexplainthepossibilityofsomevarietyofmaterialism,psychophysicalidentification,orreduction.Buttheproblemsdealtwitharethosecommontothistypeofreductionandothertypes,andwhatmakesthemind-bod

3、yproblemunique,andunlikethewater-H2OproblemortheTuringmachine-IBMmachineproblemorthelightning-electricaldischargeproblemorthegene-DNAproblemortheoaktree-hydrocarbonproblem,isignored.Everyreductionisthashisfavoriteanalogyfrommodernscience.Itismostunlikelythatanyoftheseunrelatedexamplesofsuccessfulre

4、ductionwillshedlightontherelationofmindtobrain.Butphilosopherssharethegeneralhumanweaknessforexplanationsofwhatisincomprehensibleintermssuitedforwhatisfamiliarandwellunderstood,thoughentirelydifferent.Thishasledtotheacceptanceofimplausibleaccountsofthementallargelybecausetheywouldpermitfamiliarkind

5、sofreduction.Ishalltrytoexplainwhytheusualexamplesdonothelpustounderstandtherelationbetweenmindandbody—why,indeed,wehaveatpresentnoconceptionofwhatanexplanationofthephysicalnatureofamentalphenomenonwouldbe.Withoutconsciousnessthemind-bodyproblemwouldbemuchlessinteresting.Withconsciousnessitseemshop

6、eless.Themostimportantandcharacteristicfeatureofconsciousmentalphenomenaisverypoorlyunderstood.Mostreductionisttheoriesdonoteventrytoexplainit.Andcarefulexaminationwillshowthatnocurrentlyavailableconceptofreductionisapplicabletoit.Perhapsanewtheoreticalformcanbedevisedforthepurpose,butsuchasolution

7、,ifitexists,liesinthedistantintellectualfuture.Consciousexperienceisawidespreadphenomenon.Itoccursatmanylevelsofanimallife,thoughwecannotbesureofitspresenceinthesimplerorganisms,anditisverydifficulttosaying