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On the primacy and irreducible nature of first-person versus third-person information.

Patrizio Tressoldi, Enrico Facco, Daniela Lucangeli

F1000Research 2017 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.10752.3 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Keywords Consciousness First-person Mind-brain relationship Third-person
Key points Argues that first-person accounts are the only reliable source for analyzing qualia contents and that neural correlates do not provide additional information about them.

Abstract

In this essay, we will support the claim that at the current level of scientific advancement a) some first-person accounts cannot be reduced to their third-person neural and psychophysiological correlates and b) that these first-person accounts are the only information to reckon when it is necessary to analyse qualia contents. Consequently, for many phenomena, first-person accounts are the only reliable source of information available and the knowledge of their neural and psychophysical correlates don't offer any additional information about them.