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Why Cognitive Science Needs Phenomenology: Rethinking the Epistemology of Consciousness Through Intuitive Dualism

Rebecca Peng, Amit Hagar

Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour October 30, 2025 DOI: 10.1111/jtsb.70016 (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Topics Philosophy of mind
Keywords Cognitive reframing Dualism Metaphysics Philosophy of science Artificial consciousness Physicalism Epistemology Cognitive science Phenomenology philosophy Embodied cognition Psychology of science Holism
Key points Argues that the pervasive intuitive dualism in human cognition requires cognitive science to treat first-person phenomenological experience as legitimate data for studying consciousness.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Cognitive science needs phenomenology, not despite, but because of the epistemic challenges posed by consciousness. This article argues that the pervasive presence of intuitive dualism, the empirical cognitive tendency to distinguish the mental from physical, is a widespread and entrenched feature of human experience. Drawing on work in developmental psychology and cognitive anthropology, we suggest that first‐person experience, often bracketed or marginalised in scientific accounts, must instead be treated as a legitimate source of epistemic access. The goal is in no way to return to metaphysical dualism but to recognise that the intuitively dualist subjective experience forms the data any science of consciousness must take seriously. Reframing the study of consciousness through phenomenological epistemology not only acknowledges the ontological stakes of mental phenomena but also realigns scientific inquiry with the lived realities it seeks to explain. This interdisciplinary rethinking offers a path forward for reconciling cognitive science, philosophy and the enduring puzzle of consciousness.

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