Structural qualia: a solution to the hard problem of consciousness.
Kristjan Loorits
Frontiers in Psychology 2014 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00237 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Consciousness Qualia Structuralism The hard problem |
| Key points | Argues that qualia can be analyzed in structural terms and identified with neural patterns, thereby solving the hard problem of consciousness. |
Abstract
The hard problem of consciousness has been often claimed to be unsolvable by the methods of traditional empirical sciences. It has been argued that all the objects of empirical sciences can be fully analyzed in structural terms but that consciousness is (or has) something over and above its structure. However, modern neuroscience has introduced a theoretical framework in which also the apparently non-structural aspects of consciousness, namely the so called qualia or qualitative properties, can be analyzed in structural terms. That framework allows us to see qualia as something compositional with internal structures that fully determine their qualitative nature. Moreover, those internal structures can be identified which certain neural patterns. Thus consciousness as a whole can be seen as a complex neural pattern that misperceives some of its own highly complex structural properties as monadic and qualitative. Such neural pattern is analyzable in fully structural terms and thereby the hard problem is solved.
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Citations in the library
Cited by 19
- A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explanations and implications. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology August 1, 2024
- The biological function of consciousness Frontiers in Psychology August 5, 2014
- Neurophenomenal structuralism. A philosophical agenda for a structuralist neuroscience of consciousness. Neuroscience of Consciousness August 23, 2022
- Approaching the nature of consciousness through a phenomenal analysis of early vision. What is the explanandum? Frontiers in Psychology March 18, 2024
- The hidden structure of consciousness. Frontiers in Psychology April 8, 2024
and 14 more in the library
Cites 6
- Realistic Monism: Why Physicalism Entails Panpsychism Oxford University Press eBooks May 29, 2008
- Qualia: The Geometry of Integrated Information PLoS Computational Biology August 13, 2009
- A connectionist theory of phenomenal experience. Behavioral and Brain Sciences February 1, 1999
- How neuroscience will change our view on consciousness. Cognitive Neuroscience September 1, 2010
- Ignorance and Imagination July 1, 2006
and 1 more in the library