Vagueness and the Evolution of Consciousness
Angela Mendelovici, David Bourget
The Philosophical Review April 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1215/00318108-10317619 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Michael Tye, known for tracking representationalism, unexpectedly endorses a combination of tracking representationalism and panpsychism in Vagueness and the Evolution of Consciousness, where panpsychism holds that phenomenal consciousness is a primitive feature of fundamental reality. |
Abstract
Michael Tye is perhaps best known for his defense of tracking representationalism, a view that combines representationalism (the view that an experience’s phenomenal character is determined by its representational content) with a tracking theory of representation (the view that mental representation is a matter of causal covariation, carrying information, or, more generally, tracking). In Vagueness and the Evolution of Consciousness, Tye takes an unexpected turn, endorsing a combination of tracking representationalism and panpsychism, which is understood here as the view that phenomenal consciousness is a primitive feature of the fundamental constituents of reality.