The Conscious Mind Violates Physical Laws: A New Argument against Physicalism

The Conscious Mind Violates Physical Laws: A New Argument against Physicalism

Shan Gao

According to the laws of physics, the state of a physical system can only be measured by another system (usually a particular measuring device) via a physical interaction. However, when our brain is in a conscious mental state, it can in principle output its physical state based on the psycho-physical correspondance between the mental state and the physical state. It is arguable that this indicates that the conscious mind violates physical laws and it is not physical as physicalism claims.

The Conscious Mind Violates Physical Laws: A New Argument against Physicalism

Shan Gao

If the conscious mind is ultimately physical as materialism claims then the brain's physical neurological mechanism should naturally be able in principle to determine and report its own mind state (since its mind state is really physical), so the argument furnished in the OP is not valid and does not disprove physicalism. This argument just demonstrates that a ready and plausible mechanism based on the known close correlation of many aspects of neurological physical brain physical state with consciousness can also explain this brain reporting its physical neurological state, so nothing is accomplished in determining the truth logically and scientifically. It looks like we are reduced to looking mainly at the actual paranormal evidence, and at other different philosophical arguments, of which there are several strong ones.

If the conscious mind is ultimately physical as materialism claims then the brain's physical neurological mechanism should naturally be able in principle to determine and report its own mind state (since its mind state is really physical), so the argument furnished in the OP is not valid and does not disprove physicalism. This argument just demonstrates that a ready and plausible mechanism based on the known close correlation of many aspects of neurological physical brain physical state with consciousness can also explain this brain reporting its physical neurological state, so nothing is accomplished in determining the truth logically and scientifically. It looks like we are reduced to looking mainly at the actual paranormal evidence, and at other different philosophical arguments, of which there are several strong ones.

Well if the qualitative mental state provides an accurate knowledge of a quantitative physical state in the brain, it would be difficult to exclude the qualitative from what people call "physical".

Yet this correlation has to be true for Physicalism to be true. Which is contradictory.

I don't know if this is the strongest argument against Physicalism, but I do think the argument is valid.