Re: Transhumanist Dictionary [was Re: Is vs. Ought]

Robert Owen (rowen@technologist.com)
Fri, 26 Nov 1999 18:17:11 -0500

> What in the blazes is a "qualia"?

qualia

The intrinsic phenomenal features of subjective consciousness, or sense data. Thus, qualia include what it is like to see green grass, to taste salt, to hear birds sing, to have a headache, to feel pain, etc. Providing an adequate account of qualia is sometimes held to be a difficult problem for functionalist explanations of mental states.

Also see , Daniel Dennett, David J. Chalmers, and Eric Lormand.



Robert M. Owen
Director
The Orion Institute
57 W. Morgan Street
Brevard, NC 28712-3659 USA