THE PHENOMENON OF CONSCIOUSNESS: THE PROBLEM OF THE EXPLANATORY GAP BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL

The article examines the 'difficult problem of consciousness'—the explanatory gap between physical brain processes and subjective experience. It investigates philosophical and scientific approaches including neuroscience, functionalism, phenomenology, and panpsychism. Special attention is given to qualia, unique subjective experiences that resist physical description, which deepens the mind-body gap. The authors propose various views, from neurophenomenology to panpsychism, that attempt to bridge objective and subjective aspects of consciousness.

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Abstract

The article deals with the problem of the explanatory gap between the physical processes of the brain and subjective consciousness, known as the "difficult problem of con-sciousness". The main philosophical and scientific approaches to understanding the nature of consciousness, such as neuroscience, functionalism, phenomenology and panpsychism, are in-vestigated. Special attention is paid to qualia — unique subjective experiences that cannot be described in physical terms, which deepens the gap between the physical and the mental. Vari-ous views on the explanatory gap are proposed, from neurophenomenology to panpsychism, which seek to combine the objective and subjective sides of consciousness.