Frank Jackson's Knowledge Argument

• Grant number: 24/20488-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Epistemology
• Principal Investigator: Osvaldo Frota Pessoa Junior
• Grantee: Fábio Carraro Abrahão
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The knowledge argument is an influential argument that was consolidated by Frank Jackson in his article "Epiphenomenal Qualia" (Jackson, 1982). It offers a defense of the position that there is something nonphysical to be known about phenomenal consciousness so that it is false that all there is to be known about reality consists of physical knowledge. In our project, we discuss one of the formulations of this argument, namely, the formulation that uses the thought experiment of "Mary's Room". First, we make a series of definitions that are relevant to the understanding of the concepts that are at stake in the argument. Then, we comment the historical origins of the argument. Later, we discuss the premises of the knowledge argument and the arguments that have been used to defend the truth of these premises. Finally, we discuss some of the traditional objections to the knowledge argument.