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Article 6152 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: biesel@javelin.sim.es.com (Heiner Biesel)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: lights on, nobody home
Message-ID: <1992Jun8.154141.8435@javelin.sim.es.com>
Date: 8 Jun 92 15:41:41 GMT
References: <5245@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil> <BpDqqL.MMq@psych.toronto.edu> 	<BILL.92Jun5115711@ca3.nsma.arizona.edu> 	<1992Jun5.194207.16546@javelin.sim.es.com> <BILL.92Jun5154242@ca3.nsma.arizona.edu>
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation
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bill@nsma.arizona.edu (Bill Skaggs) writes:

>   >"If a thing is conscious, there must be somebody inside who is being
>   >conscious?????"  

>   >This is precisely the fallacy of the homunculus; but rarely does it
>   >appear so blatantly.


>I was not trying to raise the problem of Other Minds; I was trying to
>raise the problem of Infinite Regress.  The sentence I placed in
>scarequotes denies the possibilility of analyzing a conscious entity
>into nonconscious components.  It says (unless I am misreading it)
>that when an entity is divisible into components, at least one of the
>components must be conscious, or else the whole cannot be.  This is
>the Principle of the Homunculus.  It is implicit in many arguments,
>but is rarely stated explicitly.  (The phrase "nobody home" is
>certainly a homuncular metaphor.)

OK, that's a bit clearer; the original sentence and rejoinder permitted
alternative interpretations.

However, while I don't accept the general necessity of a conscious
component in order for an entity to be conscious, I do tend to think
that it is necessary for human beings. Those who assert otherwise bear
the burden of showing how consciousness can arise out of the interactions
of two or more unconscious components. 

Thus far the attempts to do so that I've seen have resorted to vigorous 
hand-waving at the crucial stage. Perhaps you'd like to take a crack at it?

Regards,
       Heiner biesel@thrall.sim.es.com


