What Is It Like to Be a Bat?

Traced back to ancient Greek, Indian, and Chinese philosophy, the mind-body problem is a foundational concern in philosophy. It seeks to understand how mental states, which seem immaterial and subjective, interact with or relate to the physical body and the world. Nagel’s essay critiques various philosophical theories that address the mind-body problem.

Materialism (or physicalism), behaviorism, functionalism, and reductionism are prominent theories that attempt to explain the mind-body problem. Materialism, associated with philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes and Pierre Gassendi, posits that everything, including consciousness, can be explained by physical entities and their interactions. Behaviorism, associated with B. F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov and dominant in the mid-20th century, emphasizes the importance of observable behavior and environmental factors in shaping mental states. Functionalism, originating with the work of sociologist Emile Durkheim, suggests that mental states can be understood in terms of their functional roles within a system. Reductionism, originating with the philosopher Thales, argues that complex mental phenomena can be reduced to simpler components grounded in physical processes.

Nagel’s essay critiques these theories by emphasizing