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sahadeva · 2017-03-30 · Original thread
This is a great essay, and I would highly recommend this as a counterpoint to Nagel in terms of explaining consciousness ("qualia") if you want to get the most out of Nagel's argument: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/daniel-dennetts...

If Nagel things materialists can't explain consciousness Dennett thinks they can. E.g.

"The obvious answer to the question of whether animals have selves is that they sort of have them. [Dennett] loves the phrase 'sort of.' Picture the brain, he often says, as a collection of subsystems that 'sort of' know, think, decide, and feel. These layers build up, incrementally, to the real thing. Animals have fewer mental layers than people—in particular, they lack language, which Dennett believes endows human mental life with its complexity and texture—but this doesn’t make them zombies. It just means that they 'sort of' have consciousness, as measured by human standards." Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, MARCH 27, 2017 - http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/daniel-dennetts...

More detailed counterargument by Dennett: https://www.amazon.com/DARWINS-DANGEROUS-IDEA-EVOLUTION-MEAN...

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