:''For the oil company owner involved in the Oil_for_food scandal, see David_B._Chalmers''
{{Infobox_Philosopher |
region = Western Philosophy |
era = Contemporary_philosophy, |
color = #B0C4DE |
image_name = Sea8.jpg|
image_caption = |
name = David John Chalmers |
birth = April_20, 1966 |
death = |
school_tradition = Analytic_philosophy |
main_interests = Philosophy_of_mind |Metaphysics
influences = Douglas_Hofstadter|Daniel_Dennett
influenced = |
notable_ideas = Hard_problem_of_consciousness|Zombies
}}
'''David John Chalmers''' (April_20, 1966 -) is a Philosopher in the area of Philosophy_of_mind. He is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Consciousness at the Australian_National_University.
==Background==
Before he moved to the Australian_National_University in 2004, Chalmers was Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University_of_Arizona and prior to Arizona he taught at UC_Santa_Cruz. He was educated at the University_of_Adelaide and then briefly at Lincoln College in the University_of_Oxford as a Rhodes_Scholar before studying for his PhD at Indiana_University_Bloomington under Douglas_Hofstadter. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology program (Andy_Clark, Director) at Washington_University_in_St._Louis (1993-1995).
He is the author of the book ''The_Conscious_Mind'' (1996), which discusses Consciousness, arguing that Reductive_explanations describing consciousness in terms of physical processes do not hold. The book was described by ''The Sunday Times'' as "one of the best science books of the year".
==Work==
He is best known for his support for the notion of the Hard_problem_of_consciousness in both his book and in the paper "Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness" (originally published in ''The Journal_of_Consciousness_Studies'', 1995). He makes the distinction between easy problems of consciousness (which are, amongst others, things like finding neural correlates of sensation) and the hard problem, which could be stated "why does awareness of sensory information exist at all?" A main focus of his study is the distinction between brain biology and behavior as distinct from mental experience taken as independent of behavior (known as Qualia). He argues that there is an explanatory gap between these two systems, and criticizes physical explanations of mental experience, making him a Dualist in an era that some have seen as being dominated by monist views.
In his argument (as it appears in his book ''The Conscious Mind'') he creates a hypothetical Philosophical_zombie, which is the same as a normal person, but is missing Qualia or Sentience. After the publication of this paper, about 25 papers were published in the ''Journal of Consciousness Studies'' in response. These papers (by Daniel_Dennett, Colin_McGinn, Francisco_Varela, Francis_Crick, and Roger_Penrose amongst others) were collected and published in the book ''Explaining Consciousness: The Hard Problem''.
Chalmers along with Andy_Clark wrote a popular article about the borders of the mind called the Extended Mind.
He is also one of the best known philosophers today advocating a viewpoint that is sympathetic with Panpsychism (although he does not actively defend it).
==Miscellaneous==
David Chalmers has compiled what could be the largest bibliography on the Philosophy_of_mind and related fields with close to 8000 annotated entries topically organized.
Chalmers has given talks on ''The_Matrix'', and presents a novel take on a large part of the traditionally skeptical "Brain_in_a_vat" hypothesis. He maintains that this hypothesis is not, contrary to common philosophical opinion, a skeptical hypothesis.
He serves on the editorial board of the journals ''Philo'', ''Consciousness_and_Cognition'', the ''Journal_of_Consciousness_Studies'', and ''Psyche''.
==Bibliography==
A ''partial'' list of publications by Chalmers:
* (1997) ''The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511789-1or ISBN 0-19-510553-2
* (1999) ''Toward a Science of Consciousness III: The Third Tucson Discussions and Debates''. Stuart R. Hameroff, Alfred W. Kaszniak and David J. Chalmers (Editors). The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-58181-7
* (2002) ''Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings''. (Editor). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514581-Xor ISBN 0-19-514580-1
== External links ==
* David Chalmers's web site
* David Chalmers's bibliography
* {{nndb name|id=028/000043896| name=David Chalmers}}
* Fragments of Consciousness - Chalmers's blog.
* Interview with Chalmers - in Philosophy Now.
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