Qualia Inside the Mirror

Abstract

In this chapter, Mauricio Molina-Delgado and Bértold Salas-Murillo propose that several Black Mirror episodes deal with one of the most problematic themes when studying the philosophy of the mind and cognitive sciences: qualia, i.e., the subjective qualities of experiences, experimented on through technology. The authors argue that most episodes occur in potential worlds wherein natural laws are compatible with the main thesis of functionalism. This viewpoint in philosophy of mind interprets mental states not as physical or non-physical functions, but rather as internal operations that mediate between the inputs and outputs of a system. Many of the arguments and counterarguments of functionalism have been proposed through thought experiments. Due to their fictional yet plausible nature, Black Mirror episodes play a similar role to these experiments: they propose imaginary situations in which the truthfulness of a specific thesis is verified or put into perspective. Episodes such as “White Christmas,” “Playtest,” “San Junipero,” “USS Callister,” “Crocodile,” “Black Museum,” and “Striking Vipers” contemplate the role of digital technology in reflections about qualia or problematizations of the relationship between mind and body, consciousness and brain. The authors assert that, in the Black Mirror universe, the self can be considered a disembodied concept. Some episodes take a position concerning this neuroscientific problem, while others imagine possibilities which defy contemporary science. In several episodes, the digitalization of sensations, feelings, or consciousness is enabled by a series of devices corresponding to interfaces that allow the input and output of information, as proposed by functionalism. Finally, the way the authors conceive of ethical issues in organic and non-organic beings face a contemporaneous problematic since qualia can be artificially generated.