28 pages • 56 minutes read
What Is It Like to Be a Bat?
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Key Figures
Thomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel is an American philosopher renowned for his significant contributions to various subfields of philosophy, including philosophy of mind, political philosophy, and ethics. Born on July 4, 1937, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), Nagel pursued his studies in philosophy at Cornell University, the University of Oxford, and Harvard University. He later joined New York University, where he taught for several years. His diverse academic background and extensive teaching experience equipped him with a unique understanding of philosophical problems, enabling him to communicate complex ideas in an accessible manner.
Nagel is celebrated for his work in the philosophy of mind, a field that explores questions about consciousness and the nature of mental states. One of his most significant contributions to this field is his essay “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” (1974). In this essay, Nagel argues against reductionist theories of mind, which attempt to explain consciousness solely in physical terms. He uses the example of a bat, an animal with a form of perception radically different from human beings, to demonstrate that we can never truly understand what it’s like to be another creature.
