Frank Jackson { Philosophy Index }

Philosophy Index

Philosophy Index

Philosophy Index is a site devoted to the study of philosophy and the philosophers who conduct it. The site contains a number of philosophy texts, brief biographies and introductions to philosophers and explanations on a number of topics. Accredited homeschooling online at Northgate Academy.

Philosophy Index is a work in progress, a growing repository of knowledge. It outlines current philosophical problems and issues, as well as an overview of the history of philosophy. The goal of this site is to present a tool for those learning philosophy either casually or formally, making the concepts of philosophy accessible to anyone interested in researching them. WOLI offers immigration law course online - fully accredited. ACE credits online at EES.

Philosophers

 

Philosophy Topics


 

 

 

Frank Jackson

Australian philosopher Frank Jackson (1943— ) has contributed to the areas of philosophy of mind, epistemology and metaphysics.

Jackson is a Distinguished Professor at the Australian National University, and a regular visiting professor at Princeton University. His father, Allan Jackson, was a student of Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Mary’s Room

Jackson is often cited for his knowledge argument against physicalism in philosophy of mind. Mary’s Room thought experiment in philosophy of mind.

The argument supposes that a woman, Mary, spends her life in a room where she was unable to see any colour, but nevertheless learns all of the physical facts about colour and colour perception. Jackson then considers what happens when Mary leaves the room and sees colour for the first time. Since it seems obvious that Mary learns something knew upon seeing colour, the existence of something apart from the physical world is demonstrated.

Initially, Jackson used Mary’s Room in order to support his dualist response to the mind-body problem, but later decided that the knowledge argument is more intuitive than it is scientific, and it is actually misleading.

Selected Works

Vitals

Name: Frank Cameron Jackson
Born: 1943
Degrees: Ph.D. (La Trobe University)