Meaning & use
quale
A subjective, individual quality of experience, such as the particular way redness or pain feels to a person, studied in philosophy of mind.
See it in a sentence
Philosophers debate whether a quale, like the experience of seeing red, can ever be fully explained by physical brain processes.
The redness you perceive is a quale that may differ subtly from how another person experiences the same color.
A note on using this word
Quale is the singular form; its plural, qualia, is far more commonly used, especially in discussions of consciousness and philosophy of mind.
Words with a similar meaning
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