Mikhail Sushchin

The science of consciousness: in search of a paradigm?

Philosophy Journal May 1, 2024 Mikhail Sushchin

The science of consciousness should not pursue a single grand unified theory, as theoretical monism is inappropriate for both cognitive science and consciousness studies. Instead, the optimal explanatory strategy depends on the subject matter: cognitive science benefits from explanatory pluralism, while consciousness studies may require a unified approach. In the absence of theories that predict novel phenomena or explain known facts unexpectedly, empirical adequacy—not falsifiability—should be the primary criterion for assessing theories like computational models. Falsifiability remains a useful methodological principle but not a demarcation criterion or cure-all.