Mind-Object Identity: A Solution to the Hard Problem

Abstract

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Here I present a mind-object identity theory based on a straightforward hypothesis: One's experience of an object is identical with the object itself. To defend this hypothesis, I will reconsider the notion of a physical object in terms of relative and actual properties. To address cases of misperception such as dreams and hallucinations, I will also reconsider the notion of present in relative terms. Both the object and the present are recast as object-relative.

Keywords

• consciousness
• hard problem of consciousness
• naturalism
• hallucination
• argument from illusion
• physicalism