Getting the Measure of Consciousness
Progress of Theoretical Physics Supplement 2008 DOI: 10.1143/ptps.173.264 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 2 |
| Key points | Argues that the hard problem of consciousness should be reframed as explaining why subjects believe qualia exist, and proposes that the “qualia illusion” is biologically adaptive, created by cognitive mechanisms that sustain this belief. |
Abstract
The hard problem of consciousness is to explain the experience of qualia. But everything gets easier once we realise that what has to be explained is not how qualia can exist as objective entities but rather why the conscious subject should believe that they exist. This essay lays out a programme for doing this. It makes radical proposals as to how the “qualia illusion” is created, and why sustaining this illusion is biologically adaptive.