On the Relation Between the Hard Problem of Consciousness and the Combination Problem for Panpsychism
Arctic April 20, 2023 M. Sysoev
Constitutive panpsychism, often presented as a solution to the hard problem of consciousness, is fundamentally incapable of solving it because it faces the same structural and substantive difficulties as physicalism. The hard problem and the combination problem for panpsychism are shown to be structurally and substantively similar, based on comparable arguments from conceivability. This suggests that mereological atomism—the view that wholes are composed of independent parts—may underlie the problems of both panpsychism and physicalism. Priority monism, a naturalistic alternative to atomism, is proposed as a strategy that could resolve the general problems for both approaches.