Episode 2: Armchair Theories and the Explanatory Gap

Focus: Traditional Philosophy and Functionalist Critiques

Functionalism and Its Discontents: The idea that mental states are defined by causal roles rather than physical substrate.

The China Brain Critique: Re-evaluating Ned Block’s "China Brain" thought experiment. The sources argue it fails due to the "Double Fallacy" (Division and Composition) and a lack of understanding regarding sensory scaling and temporal dynamics.

The Explanatory Gap: Examining why a physicalist description always seems to leave out the "why" of subjective feeling.

Surveying the "Armchair" Theories: A summary of five major traditional positions:

Representationalism: Qualia as internal maps of the world.

Intrinsicism: Qualia as "mental paint".

Relationalism (Naïve Realism): ...