Are There Unanswerable Questions? Mysterianism and its General Limitation Theorem in the Philosophy of Mind

Abstract

The problem of mysterianism can be considered from two perspectives. The first is the attitude to the question of determinability of the mystery or the issue of consciousness that can be called the mysterian dispute. The second issue is the formulation of the problem itself, which can be called the limitation theorem. In the paper the author describes from the second point of view and concludes that problem of mysterianism is based on equivocation. On the one hand, the explanation is sometimes understood as a complete solution to the problem (as when one can present a correct proof of a theorem), on the other, as acceptable and satisfying the conditions of a well-formed theory. There is no one and definite explaining theory – In the sense that the classic ideal of science, which is based on the architectural model of knowledge, gives to the term definitive explanation. At the same time, there are many explanatory concepts, empirical hypotheses, and speculations that explain mental phenomena.