The Knowledge Argument: Frank Jackson's Response To Physicalism

The Knowledge Argument is a famous response to Physicalism made by Frank Jackson. The basis of the argument states there are some truths about consciousness that cannot be formed from physical truth alone. Specifically, this argument uses Mary, a brilliant neuroscientist who has never been exposed to color, but knows everything there is to know about them. Jackson argues she will without a doubt learn something knew when she sees color for the first time. Although this response is the most well-known, Jackson was not successful in creating a convincing argument. In the early 1980s, Frank Jackson formulated an argument in response to physicalism which involved Mary, the brilliant scientists discussed earlier. Mary stayed in a monochromatic

Propositional knowledge refers to facts or information stored in the memory, which is considered static in nature (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Jackson says that Mary gains this type of knowledge when she leaves the house because she experiences new qualia. Jackson also however, makes statements that epiphenomenalism is true. The basis of epiphenomenalism states that brain states cause mental states, but mental states never do anything to the brain, so the experiences of something or qualia is caused by the physical nature of humans. Since Jackson believed in this, the knowledge Mary gained would not be propositional knowledge and his argument would be false (Alter). In addition, it can be argued that Mary did not gain propositional knowledge, but instead gained abilities such as imagination and recognition. This idea was presented in the Ability Hypothesis by David Lewis. Lewis states, “knowing what an experience is like just is the possession of these abilities to remember, imagine, and recognize. … It isn't knowing-that. It's knowing-how” (Lewis). The collection of the abilities make up phenomenal knowledge, which is not based in