Illusionism Big and Small: Some Options for Explaining Consciousness.

Illusionism offers a philosophical framework for theories of consciousness that avoids invoking a magical mind essence. The brain's internal models are never fully accurate, so some element of illusionism is necessary for any working theory of consciousness accessed through introspection. The article describes the illusionist framework and proposes six specific theories, demonstrating the range of possibilities in an underexplored domain. It argues that existing theories like integrated information theory or global workspace theory can be strengthened by adding an illusionist layer, and that illusionist logic allows disparate theories to converge onto a deeper, unified understanding.

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Abstract

Illusionism is a general philosophical framework in which specific theories of consciousness can be constructed without having to invoke a magical mind essence. The advantages of illusionism are not widely recognized, perhaps because scholars tend to think only of the most extreme forms and miss the range of possibilities. The brain's internal models are never fully accurate, nothing is exactly as the brain represents it, and therefore some element of illusionism is almost certainly necessary for any working theory of consciousness or of any other property that is accessed through introspection. Here I describe the illusionist framework and propose six specific theories. One purpose of this article is to demonstrate the range of possibilities in a domain that is not yet sufficiently explored. The second purpose is to argue that even existing, popular theories, such as the integrated information theory or the global workspace theory, can be transformed and greatly strengthened by adding an illusionist layer. The third purpose is to argue that when illusionist logic is used, even very disparate theories of consciousness that emerge from unrelated conceptual origins begin to converge onto a deeper, unified understanding.