Correction: The spiritual core of the hard problem: consciousness as foundational, not emergent
Amira Arora
Frontiers in Psychology March 25, 2026 correction DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1804305 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Consciousness Core optical fiber Spirituality Context archaeology Epistemology Psychoanalysis Cognitive science Cognitive psychology |
| Key points | Argues that the "hard problem of consciousness"—why and how physical brain processes give rise to subjective experience—remains unresolved despite advances in cognitive neuroscience, and contends that consciousness resists capture within strictly reductive or materialist paradigms. |
Abstract
The so-called "hard problem of consciousness," famously articulated by philosopher David Chalmers (1995), asks why and how physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experience. Why does neural activity in the visual cortex generate the qualia of red, or neurochemical shifts involving oxytocin result in the felt sense of love? Despite significant advances in cognitive neuroscience, this explanatory gap remains unresolved (Koch et al. , 2016;Seth & Bayne, 2022). Consciousness, the very medium through which experience arises, continues to resist capture within strictly reductive or materialist paradigms (Kelly et al. , 2015;Tupper et al. , 2015).
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |