After ‘Consciousness’ Workshop
Date: January 27-28, 2026 (Tuesday – Wednesday)
Venue: Rm 10.13, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Co-Organized by: HKU-AIH Lab & Berggruen Institute China
Speaker:Professor Matti Eklund, Uppsala University
Abstract:
In earlier work I have considered the possibility of alien languages: languages with alien elements, different in kind from elements of familiar languages. Here is a parallel question in philosophy of mind: are there alien minds, minds with alien elements, different in kind from elements of familiar minds. A creature with an alien mind has mental states different in kind from familiar ones – alien mental states. In the specific case of consciousness, a question in this spirit is: are there creatures that do not have phenomenal consciousness, but instead have some sort of alternative to phenomenal consciousness? This question will be my focus. Much of the discussion will be aimed at clarifying the question. Geoffrey Lee focuses on related issues in his “Alien Subjectivity and the Importance of Consciousness”, but from the specific perspective of reductive materialism. I will use Lee’s discussion as springboard.
