Bio-centric Views of the Origin of Consciousness: The Search for the Solution to the Hard Problem
The First Minds December 22, 2018 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190854157.003.0003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that efforts to solve the Hard Problem via neural correlates or phylogenetic origins fail because they commit a category error by treating human consciousness as a distinct type rather than a token on a continuum, and they face the emergentist's dilemma. |
Abstract
Abstract Two strategies are used to review the many efforts to solve (or resolve or dissolve) the Hard Problem. One searches for the neurocorrelates of consciousness, the effort to answer the question: “How does the brain make the mind?” The other looks for the first appearance of true consciousness in phylogenesis. Both approaches are reviewed and found wanting. The reason is they all begin with human consciousness and use it as the basis for the explorations. This, it is argued, has lead to a “category error” where the H. sap. mind is treated as a distinct type and not as a token on the same existential continuum as other minds. It also reveals the existence of the “emergentist’s dilemma” or the difficulty of determining how consciousness could spring into existence when one cosmic moment before, it didn’t exist. The chapter ends by anticipating criticism of these arguments and of the CBC and providing prophylactic arguments.
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Citations in the library
Cites 19
- Neural correlates of consciousness: progress and problems Nature Reviews Neuroscience April 20, 2016
- The rise of machine consciousness: studying consciousness with computational models. Neural Networks August 1, 2013
- Orchestrated Reduction of Quantum Coherence in Brain Microtubules: A Model of Consciousness The MIT Press eBooks March 26, 1996
- Caterpillars, consciousness and the origins of mind Animal Sentience July 26, 2016
- Why fish pain cannot and should not be ruled out Animal Sentience 2016
and 14 more in the library