The P-Zombie Argument

Imagine a zombie.

Not a flesh-eating monster that you might find in a Hollywood blockbuster (or the feature image of this article), but a philosophical zombie. A being just like you but with no conscious experience.

These hypothetical entities are the subject of one of philosophy's most talked about thought experiments.

The philosophical zombie argument is designed to challenge physicalism — the idea that consciousness can be fully explained by the physical.

Of all the thought experiments, zombies have perhaps sparked the most intense debates. So, I thought, why not make the first thought experiment in our series on thought experiments a big one!?

This week, let's explore the zombie thought experiment by asking three questions:

* What exactly is a philosophical zombie?

* Why might we find the zombie argument compelling? and,

* What are the main objections to the zombie argument?

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