March 21, 2013What is it like to be a bat?Nagel- Redemptionismyou reduce things(reductionisim)start with large concepts that you break down- Physicalism/materialisimo Youre arguing that everything that you see/experience has some sort of physical orgin/base(everything is matter)o Everything is made up of physical mattero Does materilisim & reductionism (in conjunction) work with the mind-bodyo Mind –body Every human has a mind and body and what makes you human is the two of theseo Mind vs Brain Brainthe physical organ in your head Minddoesn’t produce a physical existence, it’s how you think, it is you- Things you can’t physically removeo To prove the physicalist correct you would have to find a physical manifestation of your mind (thoughts, feelings, etc.)o Subjective vs. Objective  Subjected(phenominal, point of view)- How does the world directly relate to your perception and experiences in the world Objective(facts,science)- Gathering facts that everyone can accept- Think scienceo How we perceive a way of looking at and experiencing the worldo As you go down the “chain” of consciousness you will eventually find a place where the object cant observe/be the world or have consciousness Uses the example of the bat- Its hard for us to relate to the bat because they are so different then us but we would still generally agree that they are conscious - ObjectiveWe are both mammals, and have scientifically close things(facts) o You can know everything about a bat but you can’t actually know what it’s like to be a bat- Subjectivein the mind we can never know what it is like to actually be the animal, no matter how much you pretend o We can relate closely to other humans but we can’t actually know what it is like to be themo Martiansbrings up the point of a Martian scientist who can’t see trying to figure out light waves and lighting, things like thatoIf we a book on light wavelengths and we read it to the martian until he knew everything about rainbows he still would not be able to see the rainbow through our (humans) eyes If there is something that goes against objectivism then you can’t prove physicalism reductionalisim  Rather than try to give an objective reasons for subjective things we would be better off trying to detail our experiences to other beings - Like trying to describe seeing to a blind