Qualia — A term in contemporary philosophy of mind (introduced by C.I. Lewis) denoting the qualitative, subjective properties of conscious experiences: the redness of red, the sharpness of pain, the taste of coffee. The “hard problem of consciousness” (Chalmers): why do physical processes in the brain generate qualia — the “what it is like” dimension of experience? Functionalists deny that qualia are irreducible; philosophers such as Nagel (“What is it like to be a bat?”) and Jackson argue that physical science cannot capture them.
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