Concepts and consciousness: Review of David Chalmers, The Conscious Mind

Abstract

Chalmers’s case against physicalism rests on his possible-worlds theory of understanding. Zombie-worlds are called in to explain why a full understanding of the conditional “if matters are physically like so, there is pain” does not prevent me from imagining it false. I argue that, depending on how the link between understanding and possible worlds is made out, either (1) I do understand the conditional but zombie-worlds aren’t needed to explain how I can imagine it false, or (2) zombie-worlds would be needed to explain this, but I don’t in the relevant sense understand “there is pain.”