Mary’s Room
Mary's Room is a thought experiment proposed by philosopher Frank Jackson in 1982. It imagines a scientist named Mary who lives in a black-and-white room and has studied the color red extensively but has never seen it. When she finally steps outside and sees red for the first time, she learns something new—what it feels like to see color. This scenario raises questions about knowledge and experience, suggesting that there are aspects of human experience (like seeing color) that cannot be fully understood through theoretical knowledge alone, highlighting the distinction between knowing facts and having experiential understanding.
Additional Insights
-
Mary's Room is a thought experiment in philosophy created by Frank Jackson in 1982. It illustrates a debate about consciousness and knowledge. Imagine Mary, a scientist who knows everything about color and perception but has lived her entire life in a black-and-white room. When she first sees the color red, she experiences something new. This raises questions: Did she gain new knowledge, or was it all just theoretical? The thought experiment challenges the idea that all knowledge can be reduced to physical explanations, suggesting that subjective experiences (qualia) are not fully captured by science.