The two-dimensional argument against materialism and its semantic premise

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Published: Sep 1, 2011
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.29.2011.447

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Karol Polcyn
University of Szczecin

Abstract

David Chalmers argues that zombies are possible because they are ideally conceivable and that therefore consciousness does not supervene on the physical. In this paper I discuss the most influential criticism of the conceivability-possibility principle in the current literature. According to that criticism, the conceivability-possibility principle is unjustified because it depends on a certain unjustified assumption concerning the semantic conditions under which necessary statements can be true a posteriori, namely that a posteriority is due to contingency at the reference-fixing level, so that a necessary statement can be true a posteriori only if at least one of the concepts flanking the identity sign refers contingently.

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“The Two-Dimensional Argument Against Materialism and Its Semantic Premise”. 2011. Diametros, no. 29 (September): 80-92. https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.29.2011.447.
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No. 29 (2011)
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Author Biography

Karol Polcyn, University of Szczecin

Karol Polcyn, PhD
Department of Philosophy
University of Szczecin
ul. Krakowska 61/ 69
71-017 Szczecin
Poland

karol_polcyn@gmail.com

How to Cite

“The Two-Dimensional Argument Against Materialism and Its Semantic Premise”. 2011. Diametros, no. 29 (September): 80-92. https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.29.2011.447.
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References

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