(April 18, 2014 at 10:38 am)rasetsu Wrote:(April 18, 2014 at 2:49 am)Freedom of thought Wrote: The problem with this though, is it doesn't take into account the concept of philosophical zombies: Which is a person which seems like they have consciousness, but they really don't have consciousness. I agree though that physicalism plus our observations makes it reasonable to believe in other minds.
Evidence, not proof. The introduction of the concept of philosophical zombies shifts the burden of proof to those who suggest there can be such a thing. Failing that, we fall back on uniformitarianism which is generally assumed.
I understand what you are saying, but assuming there can be no such thing as a philosophical zombie is slightly naive. I can easily imagine such a world where only one real mind exists, and the rest are just figments of the existing mind's imagination, it's certainly a possibility. I don't think I live in such a world though. Introducing philosophical zombies into the discussion is usually by theists who are trying to demonstrate that we don't have actual evidence of other minds, yet we still believe they exist.
