Question

Illustrate the problem of other minds by discussing the difficulties associated with distinguishing a fully conscious person from a person who says and does all of the same things but is not conscious.

Answer 1

The problem of other minds stems from the belief among philosophers that the mind is the only thing that can be known to exist and that knowledge of anything outside the mind is unjustified. A traditional justification for belief in other minds is the argument that because one’s body and outward behaviour are observably similar to the bodies and behaviour of others, one can conclude that others possess the ability to think and feel and are not simply the bodies and behaviour of automatons.

A philosophical zombie, a hypothetical being who from the outside is indistinguishable from a normal human being but lacks conscious experience, qualia, or sentience is used to illustrate the problem of other minds. If we assume that this philosophical zombie was poked with a sharp object it would not feel any pain sensation, yet could behave exactly as if it does feel pain (it may say "ouch", recoil from the stimulus, and say that it is feeling pain). But it is impossible for us to conclude whether or not this being possesses consciousness.